2019

May 2019

May 24, 2019: Continued impersonation of ProZ.com member Michael Beijer

ProZ.com member Michael Beijer, https://www.proz.com/profile/652138 , has reported that his name is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is best.translations3@gmail.com .

This is the third alert about this case of impersonation.

May 24, 2019: Continued impersonation of ProZ.com member Amanda Fearnley

ProZ.com member Amanda Fearnley, http://www.proz.com/profile/1491380 , has reported that her name is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is fearnelyamanda@gmail.com

This is the third alert about this case of impersonation. The scammer is still active using the same set of contact information.

April 2019

April 18, 2019: Impersonation scam

A report has been received of a person impersonating a translator and outsourcer. The aim of this is using the professional services of a translator without paying for them. The scammer used presented themselves as Karim Romero( https://www.proz.com/blueboard/43466 ) and used the following email address certranslatation1@gmail.com. The email of the legitimate person is certranslations1@gmail.com (with an "s").

April 04, 2019: Scammer pretending to represent "Avanta Translating"

A scammer pretending to represent company "Avanta Translating" has been reported. The Blue Board record for the legitimate organization is at https://www.proz.com/blueboard/19891 . The scammer uses email address domain name @avanta-translate.ru (note the similarity to avanta-translating.com , a legitimate domain).

April 04, 2019: Impersonation scam

A report was received of a person who impersonated a ProZ.com user. This person used this user's CV and photo and contacted outsourcers. This scammer was impersonating the real profile Francesca Reale. The email address used by the fraudulent user was sharmila.laux@gmail.com . This case has been reported to the corresponding authorities.

March 2019

A scammer pretending to represent company "Certified Language Solutions LLC" has been reported. The Blue Board record for the legitimate organization is at https://www.proz.com/blueboard/43466 . The scammer uses email address karim@certranslations.net (note the similarity to @certranslations.com , a legitimate domain). Note that Karim Romero is the name of a legitimate project manager working for Certified Language Solutions LLC.

February 2019

February 4, 2019: advance payment scam targeting French translators

A report has been received of an advance payment scam targeting French translators. The scammers are sending messages under the names Nancy Record, Bernard Gatewood and Charles Lincoln, but other names may be used as well.

Author: exceptionalruth
Author's Profile: http://www.proz.com/profile/2654002
Author's IP address: 173.213.90.65
-----------
Good day , I would like to know if you will be able to
translate a document am to use for a
presentation in 2 weeks. You will be translating from
English to Polish.
if you are availabe you can send me text on (619) 413-7285
thanks

Please, ignore or delete any email similar to this one.

January 2019

January 31, 2019: impersonation scam

A report has been received of a person or group of individuals impersonating a project manager of the translation agency АКМ-ВЕСТ.

The impersonator registered the domain www.akm-west.ru and used the email address znat@akm-west.ru to contact translators. This impersonator also created a profile with the name of the company, https://www.proz.com/profile/2671675 (now deleted) and used their logo as well.

January 30, 2019: customs duty payment scam

A report has been received of a person impersonating a Facebook employee passing on a translation project with an extremely generous compensation. This is an example of the message received by a translator:

Hello Translator,
I am Roy Nicolas,Facebook Foreign Language Consultant. We are
pleased to inform you that you have been chosen at random to translate
the Facebook Updated Privacy Policy content to your local language.
The Facebook Updated Privacy Policy is an English content document
which Facebook wants to make available to every user in every country
worldwide in their respective languages.
In view of this, a random selection of translators and interpreters
was selected from different online platforms and directories worldwide
to participate in this project. You have been chosen you as one of the
translators to undertake this task. I say a congratulations to you.
Please note that this project is not advertised on Facebook or any
social media platform. Facebook wants this translation done discretely
hence the need to choose translators at random. Secondly, the influx
of translators and interpreters needs to be strictly controlled,
advertising the project would create online chaos because of the
benefits that comes with this project. That said, I besiege you to
handle this project with utmost secrecy and discretion until
completion.
The following benefits come with the Facebook Updated Privacy
Translation Project
#1 A once off cash payment package of USD 25,000 to start the project
translation.
#2 Special Facebook Account to advertise your business worldwide.
#3 $5,000 monthly cash disbursement to you.
#4 Facebook Marketplace Translator contract.
#5 All expenses paid trip to any holiday destination of your choice
anywhere in the world.
This is your Unique Translator Code (UTC) 0079678FBPPTP998. This is a
unique code for you alone. Please keep this code and do not reveal it
to anybody.
To keep this project under the radar, the once off payment package of
USD 25,000 is to be delivered to you by courier. This is because you
are in a different country and the fastest and easiest way to get the
payment to you is by cash. The package will be mailed through one of
the international courier companies.This process has been out-sourced
to one of our local subsidiaries in here in the United States.
They will manage the process of tagging,packaging,securing and safe
delivery of the package to your address. Please contact Mrs Carolyn
Andolini the Head, Logistics and Shipping of our subsidiary to further
arrange the delivery of the document and the once off initial payment
of USD 25,000 to your address. Carolyn can be reached by email at
carolyn.andolini@gmail.com or +1 614-664-6905.
Congratulations once again.
Roy Nicolas
Facebook
'''Contact email: roynicolas5962@gmail.com
Contact name: Roy Nicolas'''

The scammer is not interested in the translation project (it is barely mentioned in the offer). After accepting the job, the translator will receive a phone call or email from the scammer impersonating an agent from the US Customs facility or a federal agent requesting payment for clearance and delivery of the package mentioned in the job offer. When inquired about this fee, the scammer will reply that they will refund all the fees. The translator will be instructed to send the payment to a personal bank account. After the payment is made, the scammer will insist that further payments are needed for one reason or the other.

January 15, 2019: impersonation scam

A report has been received of a person impersonating a translator and outsourcer. The aim of this is using the professional services of a translator without paying for them. The scammer used presented themselves as Dorothy Translations ( https://www.proz.com/blueboard/33712 ) and used the following email address dorothee.dorothy.translations@gmail.com. The email domain of the legitimate business is @dorothy-translations.com. Note that the scammer used a free email domain.

January 15, 2019: advance payment / overpayment scam

A report has been received of a person carrying out an advance payment scam under the name CHristopher Robin. This person contacted freelancers to offer them translation jobs; this person would offer an advance payment and then ask freelancers to transfer back the excess amount. For more information, see: https://www.proz.com/about/translator-scam-alerts#advance_payment_overpayment_scam . This scam may be connected to the scams reported on December 5, 2018 and December 21, 2018. In this case the communication was held entirely in French (note the similarity with the previous scams reported).

2018

December 2018

December 26, 2018: Impersonation of site member

ProZ.com member Nicholas Constantinou, https://www.proz.com/profile/1328341 , has reported that his CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email addresses used by the scammer are nicholas_constantinou@gmail.com and nicholas_constantinou@hotmail.com

December 21, 2018: advance payment / overpayment scam

This is another advance payment report. It's part of the overpayment scam in the section below (December 5, 2018). This new report adds more information to the previous one.

Advance payment scams convince freelancers that a payment has been made (often in advance) for their services. The amount paid exceeds the amount due, so the scammer asks translators to transfer back the difference. Since the original payment is deposited via a fraudulent check, the funds are deducted from the freelancer's account once the check bounces. This is an email received by a translator informing them that an erroneous payment has been made:

Good morning [translator],
I just want to let you know the payment has been made but there seems to be a mix-up.
I will see to the situation and get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you for your time, patience and
understanding

A few days later, this email was received:

It was just confirmed to me the amount you will be getting is 9975.17 euros, so do watch out for the deposit
in your account and let me know as soon as the money hits so we can sort out the difference

When the translator informed the scammer that they could not immediately transfer the funds back, the scammer tried to persuade the translator:

Please i need you you to understand certain things on how we can make this work as my work seems to
be on the like here. Things seems to be behinds on schedule with the mix-up as the planner only has €400
to proceed with what she has to do with the €9975.17 so i manage to calm her down and let her know she
will get the difference so if you cancel the transaction now then am finished.
Am just trying to recover from the death of my son and its what i make of this job that my family live on. I will appreciate
you deduct the €400 advance payment and send the balance to the planner or send the whole amount back to me. I want
you to know as a mother i will do the same for you if you were to be in my shoes.
Let me know what best works for you to transfer the money back either to me or the planner and i can send you the account details.
Thank you and have a wonderful night rest till i hear from you again

The bank started suspecting that this could be a scam, so they cancelled any money transfer until the check had been cashed successfully (which never happened). At that point the scammer tried to persuade the translator of using an alternative money transfer method.

Here is what i think we can do, you try to transfer it online by doing your limit for the day if you can not send all at once, but i think you should be able to do it all at one as far as the bank get their charges.

I just want you to know we are having issues with the previous account i sent you and will want the money
to be sent to the account below to avoid any issue. Thank you so much for your time and hope to hear back
from you with the payment confirmation as soon as you can tomorrow. Thank you
Bank name: Banco Sabadell.
Holder: Desmond Omozusi Aikhionbare
IBAN: ES06-0081-4320-8800-0127-6236
BIC: BSABESBB
Bank address: Avenida castilla 26,19002 Guadalajara Madrid Spain.

Can you make western union or money gram??
You can do this for me, take the cash and go to the office and do it for me today then do another one
tomorrow and next tomorrow till we are done. So sorry about the stress for you
You can do 2500 today and another 2500 tomorrow and you can do the last one at the bank on Thursday.
But please send me the payment confirmation a son as you are done

At no point was there any real interest in the translation. Both Western Union and the bank refused to make the transference as the situation was too dubious.

Hello, I just read your translator profile and how are you doing [user]?
I would like to know if you will be able to translate a document am to use for a presentation in the
next 5 to 7 weeks from English to French. Get back to me if you are available and will be able to get
this done for me. Copy of the documents will be send to you via EMAIL upon your reply to negotiate
the price tag.
I awaits your quick reply back today.
Thank you for your time and enjoy the rest of your day!
Yours sincerely,
Capt. K. McKenzie

An alternative message is:

Good day ,
I would like to know if you will be able to translate a document am to use for a presentation in 3 weeks.
You will be translating from English to [your native language].

A similar messages was also reported from a person under the name Captain C. Ferguson. This person used the following email address: ferguson.carlos1@hotmail.com

The message sent was:

Hello [user],
Can you translate a document for me? Wow, i am reading through your ProZ.com translator profile
and very satisfied with your profile.
I have chosen you for this job. The text (document) would to be translate from English to French
which am using for a presentation soon.
Let me know if you are available as soon as possible today.
Upon your reply i will send you the document to review and to negotiate price, and best delivery time
you can get done.
I am looking forward hearing from you immediately, so kindly get back to me today.
Thanks for your trust, and for your understanding.
Regards
Captain C. Ferguson

After further communication, the following -fake- information was provided:

You can start working on the documents soon.
The translation is not published but using it for my upcoming presentation and personal research purposes for an event.
A little introduction about myself, I'm a Retired Captain of the US Marine Corps and i was formally attached to the Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 (VMGR-352) of the battalions/squadrons Marine Special Operations Team.
Here is my details for the quote/invoice: Carlos Ferguson;
3313 Prytania Street, New Orleans, LA 70115 United states.
Phone number: +1 707-754-7051

The same person or group may be behind both scams.

In both cases the person contacting the translator will insist on obtaining the bank account information necessary to make the -fraudulent- advance payment. This is necessary to reach to the next step, which is informing the translator that an overpayment has been made.

Hi All,
Hope my email finds you well!
We have a new translation job from Norwegian to English language.
It's 5 taxes files that we need them to be translaed by tomorrow at 2 pm CET. If you are interested, please reply ASAP.
Thanks and best regards,
Amani

November 9, 2018: impersonation scam

It has been reported that a person identifying himself/herself as Alexander from Alba Translating Company has been contacting freelancers.

Note that the email address domain is alba-translate.ru and the actual domain of the legitimate company is alba-translating.ru (which is included in the email signature).

This person is also using the name "Alexander" (Александр), which is the name of a staff member at Alba Translating Company.

The fraudulent domain alba-translate.ru was registered on October 02, 2018.

October 2018

October 24, 2018: impersonation scam

Site staff has been alerted that an individual or group has been contacting freelancers on behalf of Ulatus. The email address used by the scammer is joinus.ulatus@gmail.com and under the name of Bradley Foster, who is an official representative of this company.

The scammer would pass on jobs to freelancers using this company to gain credibility. The goal of this scam is to obtain translation projects delivered for free, so the scammer would continue to pass on jobs upon the promise of future payment (which would never be made).

All communication from Ulatus is sent from email addresses whose domain is either @crimsoni.com or @ulatus.com.

The following alert has been posted on Ulatus website.

Any communication that is sent from Ulatus is only sent from our registered domain name @ulatus.com. No communication will be sent to any entity from, or on behalf, of an individual. In case you come across any such person(s) approaching you, please inform us at legal@ulatus.com.

October 22, 2018: impersonation scam

Site staff has received a report of an entity impersonating the legitimate company Comprehensive Language Center, Inc. The scammer was passing translation jobs using this company for credibility. The goal was outsource translation jobs without paying for them.

This individual was using the following email address: msabir.comprehensivelc@gmail.com. Note that this is a free email address. The company actually uses the following domain for their email address: @comprehensivelc.com

This is an example of a message sent to a translator from the scammer:

October 5, 2018: impersonation scam

A report was received of scammers impersonating the legitimate company Ramboll. Scam consisted in convincing the translator that the source documents would be sent by courier and then informing them that the documents had been withheld at the customs. The translator would then have to pay a fee of 1000 USD to a fake courier service called KUB express. The translator would then pay the fees to release the documents, but the funds would go directly to the scammers. Two fake websites were created for this scam. These are suspected to be professional scammers.

September 2018

September 13, 2018: impersonation scam

A report was received of a person who impersonated a ProZ.com user. This person used this user's CV and contacted outsourcers via the jobs board. This scammer was impersonating the real profile Charlotte Andersson. The email address used by the fraudulent user was charlotte0andersson@gmail.com. This case has been reported to the corresponding authorities.

September 13, 2018: advance payment scam

A report was received of a person contacting translators under the name Terry Cole. This person created a ProZ.com profile (now removed) and sent profile messages to translators. One example is the following:

Hello,
My name is Terry Cole, I'm contacting you in regard to an English, content document with 11,643 words (44 Pages). I need this document translated to Polish. I would like to know if you are interested and available to get this done for me. Please get
back to me as soon as you can
Thank you.
Best regards
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello
I'm pleased to know you are interested in handling this project. However, I will require your service to translate the attached English document to be translated to Spanish NOT POLISH, Am sorry. In the mean time, could you also confirm your charges per page, per source word or for the entire translation? The deadline for this Project is 1 month starting from 07/09/2018. Finally, what would be your preferred mode of payment? Though I'm proposing a certified bank draft, a cashier check or bank certified check. Please do not hesitate to confirm if this is okay with you? I look forward to reading from you soon.
Best Regards,
Terry.

September 12, 2018: advance payment scam

A report was received of a person attempting to perform an advance payment scam. The person contacted a site user and offered to make an advance payment of 50%. Then contacted the translator stating that a sum ten times greater had been wired. Payment was never actually received by the translator. The scammer stopped replying. The scammer insisted that they worked for a foreign diplomat. The associated email address is patricia.smith1995tm@gmail.com, which has been banned from the site.

September 5, 2018: scammer impersonating real company

This seems to be an impersonation scam. A report has been received of a person who impersonates the real company iVisa. This person has tried to contact ProZ.com users repeatedly. This person uses the email address rei.cabucos23@gmail.com and other similar email addresses (the dot may be placed differently and the number may be different as well).

iVisa needs translators who can translate user interface
words (ie “click here” or “add to cart”). There is
one large spreadsheet containing these words and several
smaller .docx documents. All need translating.
==Screening Questions==
1.) Can you do translation?
2.) How many word can you reliably translate in a week?
3.) How much do you charge for 100 words? Do not inflate
your desired pay rate by 2-5x. Doing so will disqualify your
bid if someone else simply did not inflate their price.
4.) What is a double entry visa?
5.) iVisa processes both visas and visa waivers. What is the
difference between a visa and a visa waiver? Give me an
example of each.

It is unclear whether this person will act as a ghost client or carry out an advanced payment scam.

August 2018

August 31, 2018: Impersonated client scam using the company name Asia Translate

This was an impersonation scam. The scammer pretended to work for Asia Translate and carried out the scam under the name of Ivy Rose Tan. The scammer used the free email address ivyrosetan@outlook.sg.

August 29, 2018: Impersonated client scam using the company name ABTranslations SRL

A report has been received of an identity theft and impersonated client scam. The scammer used the name of a legitimate company to use the professional services of a number of freelancers.

The scammer pretended to be the Romanian company SC AB LANGUAGE SOLUTIONS SRL. This scammer was using a profile under the name ABTranslations SRL - ABTranslations SRL (now deleted). The contact email addresses were info@ab-translations.cc and abtranslations.contact@gmail.com, and the someone under the name Dagmar Arsaelsson replied to the emails. The scammer was using the webpage www.ab-translations.cc to seem more real (do not confuse with the real company website ab-traduceri.ro). They were using a fake phone number and their address is actually the address of an electric power company.

This fake profile was created by someone under the name of Judith Salmon (profile removed as well) and was using the email address judy.salmon@gmail.com.

May 2018

May 28, 2018: Scammer under name Julie Brown/Brawn

It has been reported that a scammer under name Julie Brown/Brawn has been contacting translators from email address jub67541@gmail.com.

Scam type: advanced payment scam

After being contacted, providers may receive a message like this:

Hello
I'm pleased to know you are interested in handling this project. However, I will require your service to translate the attached German document. In the mean time, could you also confirm your charges per page, per source word or for the entire translation? The deadline for this Project is 1 month starting from 28 May 2018.Finally, I'm proposing a cashier check or bank certified check for the payment. Please do not hesitate to confirm if this is okay with you? I look forward to reading from you soon.

May 22, 2018: Impersonation of translation company GEF

It has been reported that a scammer has been contacting service providers pretending to represent company GEF, http://geftranslators.com/. The scammer writes from email address russia@geftranslators.ru (the actual company domain is .com) and impersonates Valery Afanasiev, an actual company employee.

May 21, 2018: Advance payment scam under name "George Lance"

A report was received about an advance payment scam using name “George Lance”. Further contact information used by the scammer was email address georgelance@netscape.com

May 5, 2018: Scam aimed at retrieving sensitive information

Several emails have been received from "Holly Ader" ( http://proz.com/profile/2541908 ) pretending to require translation services. The scammer invited translators to download the files required for the task. The files had to be downloaded from a webpage that looked like Dropbox. In order to download the files, translators needed to sign in with their Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, AOL or Office 365 accounts. The login form did not belong to any of these companies, but rather it was an imitation created by the scammer. This means that translators would be providing their login information to the scammer instead of actually logging in to their accounts.

The following profile was used in this scam as well: https://www.proz.com/profile/2544671 . This was a site member under the name of Jeff Adler using the email address jeffery.plante@legacymgt.org. The email was the following:

Hello,
My wife Holly, contacted you last week for a virtual assistant
position.
Her email account has had some technical issues which is yet to be
resolved, hence my reason for contacting you.
Please respond to this email to continue the conversation.
Kind regards,
Jeff.

April 2018

April 19, 2018: Impersonation of translation company Berlo International Pte Ltd

A scammer pretending to represent company "Berlo International Pte Ltd", https://www.proz.com/blueboard/37193 , has been reported. The scammer uses email address berlotranslations1@gmail.com

February 2018

February 23, 2018: Impersonation of translation company LinguaNational Translations Inc.

A scammer pretending to represent company "LinguaNational Translations Inc." has been reported. The scammer uses email address linguanationaltranslationsinc@gmail.com.
The company has confirmed that they only use accounts with the domain @linguanational.com.
The Blue Board record for the legitimate organization can be found at https://www.proz.com/blueboard/27722
If in doubt regarding the legitimity of a job offer by Linguanational Translations, service providers can contact President Janie Markos at jmarkos@linguanational.com.

February 9, 2018: Impersonation of translation company ALS

It has been reported that a scammer has been contacting service providers pretending to represent company ALS, https://en.als.ltd. The scammer writes from email address job@linvgo.ru.

January 2018

January 25, 2018: Scam sent from a ProZ.com paid profile

Several reports have have been received about scam messages coming from a paid profile. Scammers created a ProZ.com profile http://proz.com/profile/2495035 with username floridellar, paid membership for better
credibility and used this profile to send scam messages to translators from the address dagobert.florianne@gmail.com, donny.anderson@premierhealthinsurance.net and georgeclutchconsult@gmail.com

One instance of the Secret Shopper scam was reported, but most colleagues reported a classic relocation scam:

I require the services of an assistant during my relocation.
Are you available?
What state are you located?
I hope to read from you soon.
Regards,
Donny.

Good Morning,
Are you interested in becoming a Secret Shopper?
If yes, please respond with your name,address and cell phone
number.
Details of your assignment would follow.
Regards.

The profile used for sending this scam has been removed and a refund has been issued (as in most cases they use stolen credit cards).

Once again, learning the scammers' style can be more useful than knowing the disposable names or email addresses they use and drop.

January 24, 2018: Impersonation of translation company Alpha Omega Translations

It has been reported that a scammer has been contacting service providers pretending to represent company Alpha Omega Translations, http://www.alphaomegatranslations.com . The scammer writes from email address alphaomegatranslationss@gmail.com (free email address, intentionally misspelling “translations” as “translationss”).

January 10, 2018: Advance payment scam under name "Rebecca Andersen"

A report was received about an advance payment scam using name “Rebecca Andersen”. Further contact information used by the scammer was email addresses reandersenjr@gmail.com and debbieheitzer@gmail.com

2017

November 2017

November 24, 2017: Impersonation of translation company Oficina da Palavra

It has been reported that a scammer has been contacting service providers pretending to represent company Oficina da Palavra, http://oficina-da-palavra.pt/ . The scammer writes from email address oficiinadapalavra.lda@gmail.com (free email address, intentionally misspelling “oficina” as “oficiina”).

November 21, 2017: Impersonation of translation company ABBYY

It has been reported that a scammer has been contacting service providers pretending to represent company ABBYY, https://www.proz.com/blueboard/9434 . The scammer writes from email address job@linvgo.ru (note the similarity to lingvo.ru , a legitimate domain).

October 2017

October 23, 2017: Impersonation of site member under name "Patrice Dally"

ProZ.com member Patrice Philippi, https://www.proz.com/profile/1098551, has reported that his CV and cover letter are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The name used by the scammer is "Patrice Dally" and the email address is patricedally989@gmail.com

October 23, 2017: Impersonation of site member

ProZ.com member Teresita Garcia Ruy Sanchez, http://www.proz.com/profile/1090 , has reported that her CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The scammer uses several email addresses that are not used by her: TeresitaSanchez12@yahoo.com, teresitaruy1@gmail.com & teresita.sanchez@outlook.sa

October 10, 2017: Impersonation of site member

ProZ.com member Nicholas Constantinou, https://www.proz.com/profile/1328341 , has reported that his CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is nicholas_constantinou@gmail.com

September 2017

September 19, 2017: Advance payment scam using name "Aminata Dramane"

A report was received about an advance payment scam using name "Aminata Dramane".
Further contact information used by the scammer was email addresses aminataadramanee11@gmail.com.

September 13, 2017: Advance payment scam under name “Phillip W. Kone”

A report was received about an advance payment scam using name “Phillip W. Kone”. Further contact information used by the scammer was email addresses phpwarwick@gmail.com and phpwkone@yahoo.com , and Skype address phillip.kone1

July 2017

July 24, 2017: Four fraudulent profiles removed

A set of profiles sending fraudulent emails has been removed from the site. The profiles have been removed by now, but this is the contact information they were using:

Remember that scammers can register an account and even purchase membership before they are spotted and can be blocked from using ProZ.com. Fraudulent offers need to be spotted based on their nature. This set of scammers, for example, was sending out a fairly common "Secret shopper" type. These start out by making an attractive offer of weekly payment, and end up requesting payment in their direction as part of the application process (akin to "Nigerian" type advance-fee scams).

This is the body of the message they were sending:

Dear Translator,
Do you need to earn a little extra income?
Do you want to work from home?
You can earn up to $275 a week or more as an online secret
evaluation.
Our system is simple and produces great results. Here is how we do
it:
We work out what our online retailers need from you, the online
secret evaluation.
The best thing about online secret evaluation is it's simplicity.
Instead of spending millions of dollars on advertising their
products
and services, online companies go directly to the consumer.
Companies are able to improve their customer service through the
feedback you provide for them.
If you are interested,Email us with your postal details and
telephone number.
All shoppers must be 18 or over
Unfortunately, we can only take on a limited number of applicants,
so
not everyone will be accepted.
If you are accepted, you would be contacted.
All Rights Reserved
Copyright 2017

June 2017

June 12, 2017: Scammer pretending to represent "101translations"

We have received reports of the impersonation of translation company 101translations. The scammers are using email address info101translations@gmail.com and name "John Acord". They do not represent 101translations, a legitimate company, with a Blue Board record at http://www.proz.com/blueboard/1435 . Please the announcement at http://www.proz.com/topic/315746 for more information.

April 2017

A scammer pretending to represent company "Octopus Translations" has been reported. The Blue Board record for the legitimate organization is at http://www.proz.com/blueboard/5570 . The scammer uses email address irina.bumbu@contractor.net . Note that Irina Bumbu is the name of a legitimate project manager working for Octopus Translations. Remember that email addresses hosted at free email services are suspicious, and follow up with the company directly if you receive an offer from such an email address.

April 6, 2017: Fake company "Translina" uses a phone number belonging to a legitimate company

Known scam operation "Translina", previously reported at http://proz.me/eu and http://proz.me/ev has been reported to be including phone and fax numbers belonging to a legitimate company in their POs.

April 5, 2017: Impersonation of ProZ.com member Nuri Burak Aksiray

ProZ.com member Nuri Burak Aksiray, http://www.proz.com/profile/1038551 , has reported that his CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email used by the scammer is nuri.aksiray@gmail.com

April 5, 2017: Advance payment scam under name "Donald Powel"

A report was received for an advance payment scam using name Donald Powel and email address powel_donald@yahoo.com

January 2017

January 23, 2017: Fake identities "Anita Helfred", "Andrew Wilson"

Two new fake identities used by scammers: "Anita Helfred", "Andrew Wilson", Andrew-Wilson0@hotmail.com

January 20, 2017: Advance payment scam under name "Caihoun Kenneth"

January 19, 2017: Advance payment scam under name "David Paul"

An advance payment scam posing as a request for group language lessons was reported at http://www.proz.com/post/2622074#2622074 . The scammers use name "David Paul" and email address davidpaul815@gmail.com

2016

December 2016

December 30, 2016: Impersonation of company "McFelder"

A scammer pretending to represent company "McFelder" has been reported, Blue Board record at http://www.proz.com/blueboard/8192 . The scammer uses email address snowwhitetranslation@gmail.com . Note that the company only uses emails ending in @mcfelder.com to contact translators.

December 15, 2016: Impersonation of site Member Michael Beijer

ProZ.com member Michael Beijer, http://www.proz.com/profile/652138, has reported that his name and an and old CV are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers, using the fake email address michael.beijer24@gmail.com

December 7, 2016: Advance payment scam under name "JAMES COOGLER"

An advance payment scam using name "JAMES COOGLER" and email address cooglerjamess@gmail.com has been reported. The scammer had registered an account on ProZ.com under username "jcool". The account has been removed by now.

December 7, 2016: Fake company under name "Translina" is still contacting freelancers

Fake company "Translina" was recently reported to be active, at http://www.proz.com/post/2611016#2611016 . The name used by the scammer this time was "Richard Lackey", with email address richardlackey789@gmail.com

November 21, 2016: Advance payment scam under name "Anthony Jayden"

November 7, 2016: Advance payment scam under name "Jack Boulden"

An advance payment scam was reported to be currently active. The scammer uses name "Jack Boulden" and email address jbouldenservices1881@gmail.com

October 2016

October 26, 2016: Fraudulent operation under company name translationspace.net

Fraudulent operation originally branded "Languagemet" and documented at http://www.proz.com/blueboard/9086 has been reported to be active under yet another new name: translationspace.net . Emails are being sent from email address info@translationspace.net , with name "Zaki Al-Attar".

October 25, 2016: Impersonation of colleague Ana Tarchitzky

ProZ.com member Ana Tarchitzky, http://www.proz.com/profile/698402 , has reported that her CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The scammer uses these email addresses: ana.tarchitzky2@yahoo.com , ana.tarchitzky74@gmail.com and translation.work90@gmail.com

October 24, 2016: Scammer operating under name "Jenny Jones"

A fraudulent profile has been removed from ProZ.com. The scammer used name "Jenny Jones", username "gertrans", and email address jonestrans@outlook.com . The profile was being used to find jobs through the job posting system, that were then sourced to legitimate translators. One name used to outsource jobs to translators was "Christian Axberg". That name has no presence on ProZ.com.

October 5, 2016: Probable scam under name "Steven Bangham"

October 3, 2016: Fake CV under name "ALBERT Vigier"

A scammer using a fake CV under name "ALBERT Vigier" and email address languageservice.albert@gmail.com has been reported.

September 2016

September 23, 2016: Scam operation under company name "Brenntag UK Limited"

A scam has been reported on http://www.proz.com/post/2583991 . The scammers operate under company name "Brenntag UK Limited", and give this as their website: http://brenntagsoutheast.co.uk/ (404 error). The scammers claim to represent Adecco as a human resources firm, but that is false. Known email addresses used by the scammers are hrd@brenntagsoutheast.co.uk , a.fielding1965001@gmail.com , sb85190310@gmail.com

The scam here is that freelancers are supposedly accepted for job opportunities, and then asked to make a payment to cover for their training. Always be wary of job offers that ask for payment before the job is granted.

September 21, 2016: Fake CV under name "Robert J Kokuoa"

A scammer using a fake CV under name "Robert J Kokuoa" and email address johnsonr203@gmail.com has been reported. The scammer had registered a profile on ProZ.com under username "robertj601", that has been removed by now.

September 19, 2016: Advance payment scam using name "Desmond O'Rourke"

An advance payment scam using name "Desmond O'Rourke" and email address desmondxxl31@gmail.com has been reported on ProZ.com forums. Note that the name belongs to a legitimate translator, that is not related to this scam. You can read more about this here: http://www.proz.com/post/2585041#2585041

August 2016

August 29, 2016: Impersonation of company "The Translation Gate, LLC"

A scammer pretending to represent company "The Translation Gate, LLC" has been reported. The scammer uses emails hosted on Gmail. Note that the company only uses emails hosted at thetranslationgate.com and thetranslationgate.net to contact translators.

June 2016

These names have been reported to be used in advance payment scams: "Jessica Butler" and "Kathy Haring". The email addresses used in conjuction with these names are jessicabutler205@gmail.com and kharing515@gmail.com

June 21, 2016: Advance payment scam under name "Joseph Fraga"

An advance payment scam using name "Joseph Fraga" was reported. An email address used by this scammer is josephfragasport@gmail.com

May 30, 2016: Advance payment scam under name "James M Burke"

May 26, 2016: Scammer using email address new.life443@gmail.com

ProZ.com member tinaparelius, http://www.proz.com/profile/759712 , has reported that her CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The scammer uses name "Tina Harrison", and email address new.life443@gmail.com

May 25, 2016: Fake CV under name "Sabine Lang"

A scammer using a fake CV under name "Sabine Lang" and email address sabine.lang80@hotmail.com has been reported. The scammer had registered a profile on ProZ.com, that has been removed by now.

May 19, 2016: "John Varela Consulting" advance payment scam

Name "John Varela", "Donald Edwards" and email address johnvarelaconsulting@gmail.com are being used to contact translators for an advance payment scam. This scam is being discussed at http://www.proz.com/topic/287342

A scammer is contacting freelancers requesting a 25 USD PayPal payment marigoldinternational@aol.com in exchange for supposed past work. Known names used by the scammer are "Julia Redfield", "Victor Mitran" and "Pablo Cordoba". This scam is being discussed at http://www.proz.com/topic/302015 and http://www.proz.com/topic/302020

April 2016

April 27, 2016: Potential scam under name "Sandra Lopez"

A potential scam using name "Sandra Lopez" and email addresses Sandra@multi-lang.com & multilanguages2@gmail.com has been reported.

April 26, 2016: Potential scam under name "doaa khamis"

April 17, 2016: Potential scam under name "Andrew Guida"

Email address: a.guidaxxl@gmail.com . This is the email being sent out:

How are you doing and how is your business, I am in need of a translator for my documents. The documents are titled Drug Abuse and Addiction, Solution to drug abuse and addiction.
The first document have 12,413 words and the second one have 22103 words.
The first document is ready for translation and the second is with the Editor and it will be ready soon and shall be sent to you when its ready.
Deadline for the first document is May 20th while deadline for the second document shall be discussed when i send it to you but i am sure you will have enough time to translate it.
Kindly get back to me with the quote per word, charges for the first document, charges for the second document and also your language combination, i am asking for the language combination for confirmation because i cant remember again. I had your contact in my directory of translator/interpreter for a long time.
I will be waiting to read back from you as soon as possible.
Best Regards,
Andrew Guida.

April 15, 2016: AATII, directory of translators populated by scraping publicly available information

We have received reports that a new portal, AATII, has created a directory of professionals by scraping publicly available information. This is the forum thread where the discussion is taking place: http://www.proz.com/topic/300701

If you find yourself listed there, you can request the removal of your information by using the contact information posted on https://aatii.com/contactus :

April 6, 2016: Potential scam under name "Loredana Maxen"

Reports have been received of a potential scam with name "Loredana Maxen", and email addresses loredana.translation@gmail.com and loredana@bhtranslationworld.com . This person has been contacting freelancers and requesting their CV and updated cover letter.

March 2016

March 30, 2016: Fake translator under name "Niklas Dresner"

A scammer posing as a translator using name "Niklas Dresner" and email address niklas.dre.de@gmail.com has been reported to be contacted outsourcers. The scammer was spotted because his CV included (fake) references from the person he was contacting.

March 23, 2016: Advance payment scam under name "Donald Powell"

An advance payment scam using name "Donald Powell" and email addresses donald.powell77@yahoo.com & acctmg.shirelle@outlook.com. has been reported. The scammer also registered a profile at ProZ.com with username "Donald12312". The profile has now been removed.

March 23, 2016: Advance payment scam under name "Stephen Gray"

Name "Stephen Gray" and email addresses stephengray@supralifecare.org & stephengray075@gmail.com are being used to contact translators for an advance payment scam.

These names were used by scammer contacting translators to being an overpayment scam: "Paul Fletcher" / paulfletccher@gmail.com , "Andrew Newman" / newandrewmann@gmail.com

March 18, 2016: Scam operation under name "Translation Community Co."

A scammer company called Translation Community Co. operating from Gaza Strip has been reported to be contacting translators recently. There is a Blue Board record for this operation at http://www.proz.com/blueboard/41926 . This is the contact information used by the scammers: "Lisbeth Frade" / lisbeth@translationcommunity.co , "Miguel Santa" / Miguel@translationcommunity.co

March 8, 2016: Scammers operating as translators and outsourcers

A new scam has been reported in which scammers apply to get translation projects under a false identity, outsource the project to a professional translator, deliver the translation to the client, get paid, only to later disappear without paying the translator that completed the translation.

Known contact details used by these scammers are "John Pearson / pearson.john@hotmail.com", "Richard Benton / benton.richard@mail.com", "Andrew Davison / davison.a@outlook.com" and "Paul Larkin / larkin.p@mail.com / larkin.p@outlook.com . Three profiles, now removed, with that information were registered on ProZ.com and used to contact outsourcers and translators. Note that membership had been purchased for all of those profiles. Remember that site membership is not enough to prove that a person is who they say they are. As always, further steps must be taken to verify the identity of a person before collaborating with them.

Note that there is a legitimate translator called Paul Larkin. There may be others under the rest of the names.

March 8, 2016: Fake company "Translina"

A scammer is operating under fake company name "Translina". Emails are sent from adamj6901@translina.com , including names "John Adam" and "Sara Gomes".

March 3, 2016: Scammer under name "Igor Onishko"

Name "Igor Onishko" and email addresses worldtranslator951@gmail.com and onishko.lgor@hotmail.com (note the lower case "L" substituting the "I" in Igor) are being used by a scammer to contact clients with a CV taken from an established translator.

February 2016

February 22, 2016: Probable scam email sent from 2 different email addresses

A probable scam was reported through site forums today: http://www.proz.com/topic/298495 . The following message was being sent from email addresses mark.pelbo1987@gmail.com & micheal.andray1987@gmail.com :

Greetings,
Good day to you,i found your contact details on a registry of
translators and interpreters,while searching for a written translator to translate a term paper on my behalf.
Do you posses such such expertise?
Do you provide such services?
What is your target language?
What is your source language?
Do you have any certification?
Are you available for the translation?
Kindly get back to me thanks.

February 18, 2016: Continued impersonation of ProZ.com member Amanda Fearnley

ProZ.com member Amanda Fearnley, http://www.proz.com/profile/1491380 , has reported that her name is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is amandacharass@gmail.com

This is the second alert about this case of impersonation — the last alert was sent over a year ago: http://proz.me/en . The scammer is still active using the same set of contact information.

February 12, 2016: CV hijacking under name "Edward Romell"

ProZ.com user Lisa Mann has reported that her CV is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The name and email address used by the scammer are "Edward Romell" and edward.romell@gmail.com

February 10, 2016: Advance payment scam using name ""Davis Parez"

An advance payment scam using name "Davis Parez" has been reported today. The scammer is pretending to be a university student. Please see forum thread http://www.proz.com/topic/208126 for more information.

January 2016

January 29, 2016: Advance payment scam using name "Edgardo Williams"

An advance payment scam using the name "Edgardo Williams" and the email address edgardo.williams@yandex.com has been reported.

January 25, 2016: Impersonation of translator Michiko Watanabe

ProZ.com member Michiko Watanabe, http://www.proz.com/profile/105179 , has reported that her name is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is michikowatanabe2@gmail.com

January 18, 2016: Impersonation of Ettore Peyrot from company "Ability Translations"

A scammer is contacting translators pretending to be Ettore Peyrot from company "Ability Translations", http://www.proz.com/blueboard/5018 . Legitimate email addresses used by "Ability Translations" are hosted exclusively at the following domains: @traduzione-localizzazione.com , @localization-translation.com and @ability-mktg.com . Please see http://www.proz.com/topic/297121 for more information.

January 15, 2016: Scammers pretending to represent company "Accent On Languages"

A scammer pretending to represent company "Accent On Languages" has been reported. The scam consists in asking payment from translators in order to verify their identities, after they are sent an attractive job offer. These messages are being sent out from email addresses hosted at accentonlg.com and accent-on-languages.com . Similar scams have been reported recently, under company names "Hipay", "Q & A Research" and "Apex Translations". Note that the online payment form includes a Realtranslatorjobs.com banner, a scam website that has been around for several years.

January 6, 2016: Impersonation of company "Hipay"

A scammer pretending to represent company "Hipay" has been reported. The scam consists in asking payment from translators in order to verify their identities, after they are sent an attractive job offer. Note that the page to make the payment includes a Realtranslatorjobs.com banner, a scam website that has been around for several years. See http://www.proz.com/topic/201643 for more information on that scam.

The name used for these messages is "Lucia Venucci" and the email address is careers@hipaypanel.com . Similar scams have been reported recently, under company names "Q & A Research" and "Apex Translations".

The scammers had posted a set of job postings last week, with these titles "Seeking experienced translators for 8k+ words & long-term cooperation", "Translators Wanted A.S.A.P", "English > Spanish, French, Russian - 8k words translation (ongoing)". Both job postings have been removed by now, and everyone who submitted a quote has been contacted.

December 2015

December 22, 2015: Advance payment scam using name "Anthony Muller"

An advance payment scam using name "Anthony Muller" and email address vnkmuller2020@gmail.com has been reported.

December 21, 2015: Advance payment scam using name "Van Jong"

An advance payment scam using name "Van Jong" and email address jongvan5060@gmail.com has been reported.

December 10, 2015: Fake CV under name "Manjiri Uemura"

A potential fake CV with the following contact details has been reported: Manjiri Uemura / harumi.trans@yahoo.com / harumi111sophia@hotmail.com / uemura.manjiri@gmail.com

December 9, 2015: Scammers pretending to represent company "Gengo"

A second scam where scammers pretend to represent company "Gengo" has been reported. The scam consists in asking payment from translators in order to verify their identities, after they are sent an attractive job offer. Additionally, two fake versions of the Gengo website were created, at: http://gengo.ml/ and http://www.gengo-online.com/ (both websites are down now). The name on the email was "Yamal Kamal". Translators are being asked to create an account there, potentially as a phishing attempt.

October 2015

October 30, 2015: Impersonation of site member Donny Wang

ProZ.com member Donny Wang, http://www.proz.com/profile/650600 , has reported that his CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address being used by the scammer is Donny-Wang@hotmail.com

October 28, 2015: Advance payment scam using name "John Mc Cullen"

An advance payment scam using name "John Mc Cullen" and email addresses markvictry@gmail.com and jmprowx@yahoo.com has been reported.

October 26, 2015: Advance payment scam using name "Isidro Lopez"

An advance payment scam using name "Isidro Lopez" and email addresses wilsonpaul024@gmail.com and chilo97147@hotmail.com has been reported.

October 22, 2015: Advance payment scam using name "Tracy Johnson"

An advance payment scam using name "Tracy Johnson" and email address creatorsales2016@gmail.com has been reported.

October 6, 2015: Advance payment scam using name "Agustin Mike"

An advance payment scam using name "Agustin Mike" and email addresses agustinemike84@outlook.com and vencan4@gmail.com has been reported.

September 2015

September 30, 2015: Advance payment scam using name "John Fowler"

An advance payment scam using name "John Fowler", email address j.fowler2020@gmail.com and address "7290 Beverly Boulevard" has been reported. This scam seems to be related to the one using name "David Klopp": http://www.proz.com/topic/288071

September 29, 2015: Impersonation of company "Gengo"

A scam pretending to represent company "Gengo" has been reported. The scam consists in asking payment from translators in order to verify their identities, after they are sent an attractive job offer. Additionally, a fake version of the Gengo website was created with a .ga domain. Translators are being asked to create an account there, potentially as a phishing attempt.

September 28, 2015: Impersonation of company "Q & A Research"

A scam pretending to represent company "Q & A Research" has been reported. The scam consists in asking payment from translators in order to verify their identities, after they are sent an attractive job offer. The name used for these messages is "Amanda Harrison" and the email address is careers@qandaresearch.com

This scam is very similar to the one reported on http://proz.me/ek . That was reported a month ago, and the company being impersonated was "Apex Translations".

September 28, 2015: Advance payment scam under name "Melissa Cantor"

An advance payment scam using name "Melissa Cantor" and email address melissac12251970@gmail.com has been reported. See http://www.proz.com/topic/292024 for more information.

September 22, 2015: Scammer trying to extort payment in Bitcoin

Two reports have been received today about a new kind of scam in which a scammer attempts to extort outsourcers by pretending to be an unpaid translator claiming payment. Two such reports were received, and each scam email was impersonating a different person. One set of contact information was "Aleksander Bulinski" / aleksander.bulinski@yahoo.co.uk , and the other was "Laura Robertson" / laura.robertson128@aol.com . Neither person is involved in this scam. This is the message being sent out by the scammer:

Hi
I am (name) from Ashland, 1401 Oregon St. #768, OR 97520,
United States.
In September 2014 I worked for you: translation from French to English of document: "Financial Disputes between companies Bloomin 'Brands and SC Johnson & Son".
There were 5083 source words, therefore I deserved as payment:
5083 words X $0.06 = $305.
I sent you the invoice and you said you will pay me within 45 days (after delivery of the translation).
Unfortunately I got sick seriously, namely: pulmonary tuberculosis.
I stayed in the hospital "Asante Ashland Community Hospital" almost 1 year for treatment with: Isoniazid, Rifampin, Pyrazinamide, Ethambutol, Amikacin, Ethionamide, Moxifloxacin, Para-aminosalicylic acid and Streptomycin.
Now I'm healthy.
I checked my PayPal account, but it does not appear the amount of $ 305 as received from you.
So you did not pay me for my work ($ 305).
You must pay me for my work. Because now I have some problems with my account PAYPAL, please send me as payment 1 Bitcoin (1 BTC) into the account:
1DNVirNZa3JLU94GLsTjECX8ZLkq3K7bgX
In any case, 1 Bitcoin is less than $ 305.
Waiting for payment (1 Bitcoin) within one week. If I will not receive payment within a week - I will send a message about your agency (that you are crooks and swindlers and you use the work of honest translators without paying them) to:
1. proz.com - http://www.proz.com/;
2. translators cafe -http://www.translatorscafe.com;
3. translator town - http://www.translatorstown.com/;
4. translation directory - http://www.translationdirectory.com/;
5. traduguide - http://www.traduguide.com/;
6. Police in your city;
7. FBI - https://www.fbi.gov/;
8. the government agency in your country dealing with Internet crime
(in this case - exploitation of honest translators by crooks of translation companies);
9. the website Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/ (I will pay this website in order to display my message about your agency: that you are crooks and swindlers and you use the work of honest translators without paying them);
10. I will build a website and I will insert as content the story of my "collaboration" with your agency and the fact that you did not pay me and you are swindlers. Then I will pay for promoting this website on Google (I will pay to the website http://www.thesitewizard.com which will connect my website with 400,000 websites worldwide). Thus millions of Internet users will learn about your agency and the fact that you are swindlers (that you use the work of honest translators without to pay);
11. I have 10 million email addresses of people from all over the world. I have a software professional bulk email sender that allows me to send message to 1 million email addresses per day. During 10 days I will send messages to these 10 million email addresses. Thus, 10 million citizens from all over the world will learn about your agency and the fact that you are swindlers (that you use the work of honest translators without to pay);
12. I will send a message (with the description of the situation at your agency) to the 20 most important newspapers in your country;
13. I will notify the US Embassy in your country about your offense (me being an American citizen).
I warn you that I am not joking, and I am very decided to recover the money for my work: 1 Bitcoin.
You can avoid the 13 points above if you will send me 1 Bitcoin (1 BTC) into the account:
1DNVirNZa3JLU94GLsTjECX8ZLkq3K7bgX
Waiting for payment
Kind regards
(name)
Ashland, 1401 Oregon St. #768, OR 97520,
United States.

Note that in both cases the postal address and Bitcoin account are the same.

September 22, 2015: Advance payment scam under name "Michael Butler"

An advance payment scam using name "Michael Butler" and email address mb12251960@gmail.com has been reported.

September 15, 2015: New scam, reminiscent of the classic Nigerian scam

A new scam reminiscent of the classic Nigerian scam has been reported recently. In this version, the scammer pretends to represent Lingo24 Translation Services, http://www.proz.com/blueboard/801 , but does not. The scammer uses name "James Henry" and email address joseph_wk26@yahoo.com . This is the message being sent out:

New Campaign (Save a student)
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country has a high illiteracy rate and a low GDP. We will raise funds online for Language studies students of Nigeria who can't afford to pay their tution. There are volunteers in Nigeria. But in order to raise funds they need to create a gofundme.com fundraising campaign. Gofundme has only 2 withdrawal options- wepay and stripe. Wepay is supported in US and Canada. And Stripe is supported in UK, Australia and a few European countries. So it's very difficult for Nigerians to raise funds online.
Stripe is possibly supported in your country. Can you create a gofundme account for the volunteers? You can send money via western-union after withdrawing the funds from Stripe. We can pay you 10% of the total raised funds for your services. If you agree to help the Nigerian volunteers to create a gofundme campaign, just send us an email to joseph_wk26@yahoo.com and let us know.
Though it will take a few more weeks for you to get approved as a Lingo24 translator, you are already a member of Lingo24. And we will be grateful if you agree to help our volunteers."

September 11, 2015: Apparent impersonation of a legitimate translator

What seems to be the impersonation of a legitimate translator has been reported through site forums at http://www.proz.com/topic/290357 and http://www.proz.com/topic/290117 . The messages include a link to a Linkedin profile for a person presumably based in France, but the IP address on the messages indicates the person sending them is based in Jordan. The messages are signed "Charline Vuillet", the same name in the Linkedin profile.

September 10, 2015: Impersonation of site user Christopher Burin

It has been reported that a scammer is using name "Christopher Burin" and email address chrisburin79@gmail.com to contact freelancers. The name does actually belong to a genuine site user with a profile at http://www.proz.com/profile/110680 . However, he is no longer freelancing, so any offers you receive from chrisburin79@gmail.com - or from other e-mail addresses, purporting to be from "Christopher Burin" - are from the scammer and are fraudulent.

September 9, 2015: Impersonation of site member Sameh Elnokaly

ProZ.com member Sameh Elnokaly, http://www.proz.com/profile/1256162, has reported that his name is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is s.elnokally@gmail.com . Please ask for a proof of identity and/or get in contact with with Sameh via Skype (s.elnokaly) or email: s.elnokaly@hotmail.com . That is the legitimate email address used by this translator.

September 7, 2015: Scam under name "Berenice Legros"

A scam using name "Berenice Legros" and email address berelegros@gmail.com has been reported. The scammer requested a translation and claimed payment was made using a forged bank note. This is related to a job posting that has since been removed, and all possible quoters have been informed.

August 2015

August 22, 2015: Advance payment scam under name "Ben Wheeler"

An advance payment scam using name "Ben Wheeler" and email address b.wheeler0808@gmail.com has been reported. The scammer was asking for the translation of a file on health care policy.

The scammers had posted a set of job postings last week, with these titles "French & Portuguese Translators Wanted", "Translators Wanted A.S.A.P",
"Hiring Short or Long Term Translator". All job postings have been removed by now, and everyone who submitted a quote has been contacted.

August 3, 2015: Advance payment scam using name "David Hooks"

An advance payment scam using name "David Hooks" and email address david.hooks20@gmail.com has been reported. The scammer claims to represent company "Glenview Language Network", a company that doesn't seem to exist.

July 2015

July 25, 2015: Advance payment scam using name "Mark Davis"

An advance payment scam using contact information "Mark Davis" and email address markdv112@gmail.com has been reported. The message being sent out is the same as in the "Nigel Jennet" scam, reported yesterday. This is the message being sent out:

Translation Work
Hello!
I am Mark Davis, a resident of Michigan,United States.I am writing you from Lisburn,UK where i am presently on an official visit.I will be making a presentation to some groups of French speaking people in Quebec, Canada on the 30th of September,2015.However,i will need you to help in translating some documents from English to French,so each of my audience can have an extra copy in French language and they can follow through.The deadline for the delivery of translations is September 4,2015.Please,let me have an estimate for the documents(see attached).I look forward to hearing back from you.
Best Regards,
Mark

July 21, 2015: Scammer pretending to represent company A2Z Global LLC

A scammer using name "Ronen Eliav" and email address roneneliav@yahoo.co.uk has been contacting translators pretending to represent company A2Z Global LLC, http://www.proz.com/blueboard/2303 . This person does not represent A2Z Global LLC.

Note that "Ronen Eliav" is also the name of a legitimate translator, not connected to this scam.

ProZ.com member Ingrid Thorbjørnsrud, http://www.proz.com/profile/763198 , has reported that her CV is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The names used by the scammer are "Morten Aleksandersen" and "Ingrid Jørnsrud/Jornsrud", with email addresses morteen.aleksandersen@gmail.com and ingrid.trans2@gmail.com

July 20, 2015: Advance payment scam using name "David Klopp"

An advance payment scam using name "David Klopp" and email address davidoklopp@gmail.com has been reported. See the forum thread at http://www.proz.com/topic/288071 for more information.

July 16, 2015: Impersonation of a translator

ProZ.com member Michael Beijer, http://www.proz.com/profile/652138 , has reported that his CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is michael.beijer24@gmail.com .

July 8, 2015: Potential scam from email address workathandd@gmail.com

A potential scam using email address workathandd@gmail.com and username "polaroid" has been reported. The messages were sent from a ProZ.com profile with membership, that has since been removed.

June 6, 2015: Advance payment scam under name "Myriam Sales"

ProZ.com member e-beth, http://www.proz.com/profile/1023029 , has reported that her CV is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is aelisabeth82@gmail.com

May 2015

May 27, 2015: Advance payment scam under name "John Luka"

An advance payment scam using name "John Luka" and email addresses lukajohn69@gmail.com & pouncy808@yahoo.com has been reported. The scammer contacted translators requesting a translation of articles on STD among teenagers.

May 22, 2015: Impersonation under name "Daniel Yang"

ProZ.com member William He, http://www.proz.com/profile/712367 , has reported that his CV is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The name used by the scammer is just "Daniel Yang" and the email address is daniyang3@gmail.com

May 18, 2015: Scammer requesting a 50 EUR chèque de banque

A potential scam using email address talktokilll@gmail.com , username "Kidominant" and signing as "Andy" has been reported. The messages requested that a cheque for 50 EUR was sent to the scammer, promising a refund. See http://www.proz.com/topic/285949 for more information.

April 2015

April 29, 2015: Advance payment scam under name "Walter Huff"

An advance payment scam using name "Walter Huff" and email address callmewaltxxl@gmail.com has been reported. The scammer contacted translators requesting a translation of articles on drug abuse and gun control.

March 2015

March 31, 2015: Invoice scams from email address 40049@bk.ru

Many reports were made on http://www.proz.com/topic/283135 about a classic scam that is currently being targeted at translators and translation companies. It consists in an unknown person sending invoices for small amounts to companies, with the hopes of receiving payment when invoices are processed. Contact information included in this spate of emails is "Victor Vladimirovich Alexandrov" as name and 40049@bk.ru as email address. The invoices are sent through PayPal too, and can be cancelled there.

March 26, 2015: Impersonation of a site member by Languagemet

ProZ.com member Teresita Garcia Ruy Sanchez, http://www.proz.com/profile/1090 , has reported that her CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The scammer uses several email addresses that are not used by her: TeresitaSanchez12@yahoo.com, teresitaruy1@gmail.com & teresita.sanchez@outlook.sa

March 12, 2015: Impersonation of a site member

ProZ.com member Ana Loncar, http://www.proz.com/profile/1636642 , has reported that her CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The scammer is using these email addresses: analoncar124@gmail.com & Ana-Loncar@hotmail.com

March 5, 2015: Impersonation of a site member

ProZ.com member Zhonghui Shen, http://www.proz.com/profile/1028710 , has reported that his CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is zhonghui.shen.tra@gmail.com

February 2015

February 3, 2015: Email addresses used by banned outsourcer 24translate.net

Banned outsourcer 24translate.net, http://www.proz.com/blueboard/40856 , has been reported to be contacting service providers from these email addresses: nahed@24translate.net and supertranslation81@gmail.com

January 2015

Site members Laura&David Truncellito, http://www.proz.com/profile/37998 , have reported that their CV is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The scammers are using their joint CV, with just "Laura Truncellito" as name, and from email address lauratrun337@gmail.com

January 15, 2015: Scammer operating under name Global Speech Company

A potential overpayment scam has been reported to be sent from email address global.speech.company2@gmail.com , under the name "Karen Rowe". The claim that their address is Sarphatistraat 614 1018 AV Amsterdam, Netherlands, and that you need to send the invoice to invoice@globalspeech.co . But once you send the invoice, you discover that the email can't be sent and there's no such email address.

January 12, 2015: Scammer operating under name "Daniele Guiducci"

A scammer using name "Daniele Guiducci" and email address daniele.guiducci2@hotmail.com has been reported. This scammer contacted outsourcers to get translation work, and hired translators to do the translations. The scammer delivered the translation received from the service provider, got paid, and did not pay the hired translator.

January 9, 2015: Scammer operating under name "Rachel Coleman"

It has been reported that company Translate Media, http://www.proz.com/blueboard/7536 , is being impersonated by a scammer using name "Rachel Coleman" and email address rachel.coleman@consultant.com

Site members Laura&David Truncellito, http://www.proz.com/profile/37998 , have reported that their CV and company name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The names used by the scammer are "Robin Thompson" and "Li Thompson". The email address used by the scammer is robin.li.thompson@gmail.com

November 2014

November 13, 2014: CV hijacking under name "Rebecca Kapborg"

ProZ.com member Helena Grahn, http://www.proz.com/profile/625790 , has reported that her CV is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The scammer is operating under name "Rebecca Kapborg" and email address rebecca.kapborg@yahoo.com

November 6, 2014: Advance payment scam under name "Thomas Greenbaum"

An advance payment scam sent through profile emails has been reported. The messages were sent under name "Thomas Greenbaum", from a profile with username "koochiepoochie" and email address ThomasGreenbaum14240@gmail.com , and stated the sender was in search for a personal assistant.

Note that the messages were sent through ProZ.com by a profile with membership. The profile has since been removed, but keep in mind that site membership is not enough to prove that a person is a legitimate outsourcer. As always, further steps must be taken to verify the identity of a person before collaborating with them.

October 2014

October 10, 2014: Impersonation of site member

ProZ.com member Amanda Fearnley, http://www.proz.com/profile/1491380 , has reported that her name is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers, with a fake CV. The email address used by the scammer is amandacharass@gmail.com

There was an account registed on Proz.com with that email address, that has since been removed. Other (removed) accounts associated with it had these sets of contact information:

October 7, 2014: Advance payment scam under name "Robert Denard"

An advance payment scam sent through profile emails has been reported. The messages were sent under name "Robert Denard", from a profile with username "lucytrance" and email address lucytranceden@gmail.com , and stated the sender was in search for a personal assistant. You can find more information about this scam at http://www.proz.com/topic/275663

Note that the messages were sent through ProZ.com by a profile with membership. The profile has since been removed, but keep in mind that site membership is not enough to prove that a person is a legitimate outsourcer. As always, further steps must be taken to verify the identity of a person before collaborating with them.

October 6, 2014: Advance payment scam under name "Williams Gaye"

An advance payment scam using name "Williams Gaye" and email address willygaye@gmail.com has been reported.

October 3, 2014: CV hijacking under name "Abir Amos"

ProZ.com user Mariana Lantzet, http://www.proz.com/profile/1332389 , has reported that her CV is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The name used by the scammer is "Abir Amos" and the email address is ab.amos.111@gmail.com

October 2, 2014: Advance payment scam using name "Terry Gilbert"

An advance payment scam using name "Terry Gilbert" and email addresses contact@mrterryg.com and terry@mrterryg.com has been reported. See the forum thread at http://www.proz.com/topic/273418 for more information.

September 2014

September 29, 2014: Impersonation of a translator

ProZ.com member Heather Oland, http://www.proz.com/profile/125909 , has reported that her CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is heather.e.oland@gmail.com

September 25, 2014: Impersonation of translation company Bel Air Language Services

A scammer is contacting service providers claiming to represent Bel Air Language Services, a legitimate translation company listed at http://www.proz.com/blueboard/37445 . The scammer uses email addresses hosted at @bellair.net. At the moment, this set of contact information has been identified as used by this scammer: "Shabnam Jaberian", shabnamjaberian@bellair.net , shabnamjaberian2@bellair.net . The scammer had registered a profile on ProZ.com with username "belair_trns", which has been removed.

These sets of names and email addresses have been reported to be advance payment scams: Bruce King , k.bruce9002@outlook.com ; Gabriel Byrne , gabriel.byrne117@gmail.com . In both cases, the email being sent to contact translators was:

"HI, Can you help me and translate an article? Please confirm your language combination ..Thanks"

In general, only scammers contact a translator without knowing first what is their working language combination. That question is a sign for fraudulent offers.

A potential advance payment scam using name "Lawrence MORENO" and email address lawrencelawn@outlook.com has been reported on site forums: http://www.proz.com/topic/274334

August 2014

August 7, 2014: Advance payment scam using name "Hendrick Wenzeslaus"

An advance payment scam using name "Hendrick Wenzeslaus" and email address hendycraftman@hotmail.com has been reported. The email being sent out to contact freelancers included a question about the language pairs the translator worked in. That is a sign of scammers, since legitimate outsourcers check language pairs before contacting a translator, not after.

August 6, 2014: Advance payment scam using name "Mata Taylor"

An advance payment scam using name "Mata Taylor" and email address matataylor000@gmail.com has been reported on site forums: http://www.proz.com/topic/272990 . This is the message being sent out to contact freelancers:

"Hello, I am Miss Mata Taylor, I got your e mail address from a online forum that you are an excellent translator, I guess you would have worked for them. I will like you to translate an article for me, but first i need to know your language combination because it was not stated. I will be very happy if you can reply my e mail ASAP.
Thank You"

July 2014

July 29, 2014: Advance payment scam using name "Dave Jones"

An advance payment scam using name "Dave Jones" and email addresses djsoundsunlimited91@yahoo.com has been reported. The scammer requested a translation of a document "to create more awareness on STD among teenager and mother which will be distributed in pamphlet also an initiation of my late wife to help kids,orphans and mothers". When translators received a check for more than the cost of the services provided, the scammer requested them to "return the difference fund to because the surplus is need to help the victim of typhoon haiyan in Philippines also to provide cloth,food and shelter for less privilege kids".

This is an example both of the writing style used by scammers and the stories they use to get service providers to lower their guards.

July 28, 2014: Advance payment scam using name "Victor Sanchez"

An advance payment scam using name "Victor Sanchez" and email address vvicvictor@gmail.com has been reported. Note that the sender had registered a profile on ProZ.com, under username "likwidstate", and had purchased site membership. The profile has since been removed, but keep in mind that site membership is not enough to prove that a person is legitimate. As always, further steps must be taken to verify the identity of a person before collaborating with them.

July 28, 2014: Advance payment scam using name "David Prentice"

An advance payment scam using name "David Prentice" and email addresses daviprentice@gmail.com has been reported. Note that the name on the email address does not match the contact name exactly.

July 21, 2014: Advance payment scam through a job posting

Job posting http://www.proz.com/job/910696 has been reported to be an overpayment scam. The posting has been removed from ProZ.com now. The poster's name and email address were "Mercedes Pastor Segura" and seguramercedespastor@gmail.com . An alert has been sent to all those who submitted a quote on that job posting.

July 21, 2014: Advance payment scam under name "Ashley Lopez"

An advance payment scam using name "Ashley Lopez" and email addresses iamashleylopey@gmail.com has been reported.

July 16, 2014: Advance payment scam under name "Rick Johnson"

An advance payment scam using name "Rick Johnson" and email addresses rickjohnson0@hotmail.com has been reported on site forums: http://www.proz.com/topic/271931

July 15, 2014: Advance payment scam under name "Paul Carson"

An advance payment scam using name " Paul Carson" and email addresses paulcarsonokay@gmail.com has been reported. Note that the sender had registered a profile on ProZ.com, under username "pooloffer", and had purchased site membership. The profile has since been removed, but keep in mind that site membership is not enough to prove that a person is legitimate. As always, further steps must be taken to verify the identity of a person before collaborating with them.

July 15, 2014: Advance payment scam under name "Maya Rigo"

A potential advance payment scam using name "Maya Rigo" and email addresses mayarigo1@gmail.com has been reported.

July 14, 2014: Advance payment scam under name "Lauren Rose Ovens"

An advance payment scam using name "Lauren Rose Ovens" and email addresses londamason11@gmail.com has been reported.

July 14, 2014: Advance payment scam under name "Carlos Orellana"

An advance payment scam using name "Carlos Orellana" and email addresses carlosorllana@gmail.com has been reported.

July 12, 2014: Advance payment scam through a job posting

Job posting http://www.proz.com/job/913876 has been reported to be an overpayment scam. The posting has been removed from ProZ.com now. The poster's name and email address were "Carlos Garcia Aixela" and caixelagarcia@gmail.com . An alert has been sent to all those who submitted a quote on that job posting.

July 11, 2014: Advance payment scam under name "Paul Sharner"

An advance payment scam using name "Paul Sharner" and email addresses p.sharner8701@gmail.com. has been reported. The scammer contacted translators requesting a translation of articles on teen pregnancy and human trafficking.

July 3, 2014: Advance payment scam under name "Hendrick Wenzeslaus"

An advance payment scam using name "Hendrick Wenzeslaus" and email addresses hendycraftman@hotmail.com has been reported.

June 2014

June 12, 2014: Advanced payment scam disguised as a request for a personal assistant

A probable scam sent through profile emails has been reported this week. The messages were sent under name "Andrew Doyle", from email address andrewdoylee@gmail.com , and stated the sender was in search for a personal assistant. Part of the tasks of being a personal assistant was to receive payments by check and then transfer funds to a supposed agent through Western Union, which indicates this is a variant of the advance payment scam.

Note that the messages were sent through ProZ.com, by a profile with membership. The profile has since been removed, but keep in mind that site membership is not enough to prove that a person is legitimate. As always, further steps must be taken to verify the identity of a person before collaborating with them.

June 10, 2014: The CV of a site member with the name of another one

ProZ.com member Anne Brulin, http://www.proz.com/profile/16010 , has reported that her CV is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The name used by the scammer is "Stéphanie Soudais", with email addresses stephaniesoudais83@gmail.com and Stephanie.Soudais@hotmail.com . Note that Stéphanie Soudais is the name of a ProZ.com member, http://www.proz.com/translator/132717 , and those email addresses are not the ones she uses.

May 2014

May 27, 2014: Impersonation of a translator

ProZ.com user Rui Sousa, http://www.proz.com/profile/125715 , has reported that his CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is alberto.rui110@gmail.com

May 26, 2014: Impersonation of a translator

ProZ.com member Geneviève Gillet-Ghenne, http://www.proz.com/profile/1513186 , has reported that her CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is Genevieve.G101@hotmail.com

May 20, 2014: Advance payment scam under name "Alexander Lynch"

An advance payment scam under name "Alexander Lynch", using email address virtual.4.emp@gmail.com , has been reported.

May 14, 2014: Impersonation under name "Mirna Salgueiro"

ProZ.com member Heloísa Helena Benetton Costa, http://www.proz.com/profile/33389 , has reported that her CV is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The name used by the scammer is "Mirna Salgueiro" and the email address is Mirna.Salgueiro@gmail.com

May 13, 2014: Impersonation by Languagemet

ProZ.com member Loay Al-Dakhlallah, http://www.proz.com/profile/21683 , has reported that her CV and name are being used by a scammer, Languagemet, to contact outsourcers.

May 12, 2014: Advance payment scam

This set of information has been reported to be used by an advance payment scammer: "Wayne Cole", waynecole1984@gmail.com, phone number: (424) 261-3509 . This is the message sent to a translator as a reply to a request for a phone number:

Well, I dont always have time to talk on phone due to one meeting
or the other, I am always busy but you can send me text on
(424) 261-3509.
However, Below are the details for the document.
Title: RACISM AND PREJUDICE
Number of words: 17266
Deadline: 1st june, 2014
Mode of Payment: Check.
Audience : General Public
A copy of the document is attached, Kindly email me with the quote
per word and the total charges for the whole document.
Thanks,
Wayne Cole
352 E Ellis Ave,
Inglewood, CA 90302
(424) 261-3509​

May 3, 2014: Impersonation of site user

ProZ.com member e-beth, http://www.proz.com/profile/1023029 , has reported that her CV and full name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is aelisabeth82@gmail.com . The scammer sometimes signs emails as "Elizabeth".

May 2, 2014: Impersonation of site user

ProZ.com member Lucie Maruniakova, http://www.proz.com/translator/855551 , has reported that her CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email addresses used by the scammer are luciemaruniakova@hotmail.com and luciemaruniakova1@gmail.com

April 2014

April 30, 2014: Impersonation by 24translate.net

Gianluca Cocorullo has reported that his CV, name and identity card are being used by a scammer linked to 24translate.net to contact outsourcers. The email addresses used by the scammer are gianlucacocorullo2@gmail.com and Gianluca.Cocorullo@hotmail.com

April 21, 2014: Impersonation of site user

ProZ.com user HERBET Abel, http://www.proz.com/translator/1595450 , has reported that his name and CV are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by this scammer is abel.herbet.work@hotmail.com

April 18, 2014: Advance payment scammer posing as a student

An advance payment scam using name "Terry Mcbridge" or "Terry Mcbride" and email addresses jt2282185@gmail.com , terryz9one001@hotmail.com has been reported. In this case, the scammer is posing as a student.

April 15, 2014: Advance payment scam under name "Joe Taylor"

This set of information has been reported to be used by an advance payment scammer: "Joe Taylor", joe_taylor47@aol.com . This is the message being sent out to contact translators:

Hello,
I'm Joe Taylor,I got your email from the website
(http://www.atanet.org/) that you are a competent translator. I
have an article I want you to help me translate from (English into
Japanese).I would like to know your terms and how much it would
cost for the article? I have attached the article to this email so
you could check and let me know how long it would take to get it
translated? Hope to hear from you as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Joe Taylor.

April 11, 2014: set of names used for an advance payment scam

A set of advance payment scams coming from email address gybardey@hotmail.com have been reported on forum thread http://www.proz.com/topic/262354 . Some of the names being used by the scammer are "Monica Johnson" are "Mariam Brown".

April 10, 2014: Impersonation of a site member

ProZ.com member julie08065, http://www.proz.com/profile/912641 , has reported that her name and CV are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email addresses used by the scammer are russian.hebrew.translator@gmail.com,languagepower1@gmail.com, localization.world.team@gmail.com and translation.world.monitor@gmail.com

April 9, 2014: Impersonation of a site member

ProZ.com member Antonietta Di Gianni, http://www.proz.com/profile/801358 , has reported that her full name, and old CV and cover letter are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email addresses used by the scammer are antonietta.g.work@hotmail.com, antonietta.gwork1@gmail.com and freelancer.monitor1@gmail.com . You can find more information about this on site forums: http://www.proz.com/topic/255994

March 2014

March 27, 2014: Probable scam reported on site forums

A probable scam has been reported on ProZ.com forums: http://www.proz.com/post/2280835 . This is the email sent out to contact translators for this case, from email address florawilce12@gmail.com :

Hello
How are you doing today i came across your email on
translators site
www.ncta.org
I will kindly want to know the language your language
combinations,translate into from English ?
--
Flora Wilce
4900 Fernvale Rd Bakersfield, CA
Bakersfield, CA 93306
6829365269
Best Regards

March 26, 2014: Impersonation of a translator

ProZ.com member Moofi, http://www.proz.com/profile/20097 , has reported that her CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. Email addresses used by the scammer are sabinawaszek2@gmail.com, sabinawaszek1@gmail.com and sabinawaszek@hotmail.com

March 7, 2014: Overpayment scam with name "Jose Cazorla Jimenez"

Job postings http://www.proz.com/job/859660 and http://www.proz.com/job/863579 have been reported to be overpayment scams. The postings have been removed from ProZ.com now. The poster's name and email address for them were "Jose Cazorla Jimenez" and jimenezCjose@hotmail.com . An alert has been sent to all those who submitted a quote on those postings.

March 6, 2014: Overpayment scam from South Africa

An overpayment scam has been reported to be sent from email address teresalartuna@live.com , under name "Teresa Lartuna". The message was sent from an IP address from South Africa.

March 26, 2014: Overpayment scam from Netherlands

An overpayment scam has been reported to be sent from email address global.speech.company@gmail.com, under the name "Samanta Howe". The claim that their address is Sarphatistraat 614 1018 AV Amsterdam, Netherlands, and that you need to send the invoice to invoice@globalspeech.co . But once you send the invoice, you discover that the email can't be sent and there's no such email address.

February 2014

February 27, 2014: Overpayment scam through a job posting

Job posting http://www.proz.com/job/857749 has been reported to be an overpayment scam. The posting has been removed from ProZ.com now. The poster's name and email address were "Roland Krenn" and Rnn4267K@hotmail.com . An alert has been sent to all those who submitted a quote on that job posting.

February 20, 2014: Overpayment scam from a "Jonathan Cowan"

An advanced payment scam was reported on http://www.proz.com/topic/264775 . The message was sent under name "Jonathan Cowan", from email address jonathancowan38@yahoo.com . The message was:

Hello ,I am Jonathan Cowan, I am a sociologist, i found your e mail address on the translator website, that you are a Translator, i will like you to translate an article for me,
i have attached the article, i will like the article to be translated to French . I will like to know the cost of translating the article, and the deadline is 25th of March 2014.
I will be waiting for your reply.
Thank You
Jonathan Cowan

February 14, 2014: Overpayment scam through a job posting

Job posting http://www.proz.com/job/861116 has been reported to be overpayment scam. The posting has been removed from ProZ.com now. The poster's name and email address were "Romo Massimiliano" and t23f3mw@hotmail.com . An alert has been sent to all those who submitted a quote on that job posting.

February 3, 2014: Impersonation of ProZ.com member

ProZ.com member DianeGM, http://www.proz.com/profile/586676 , has reported that her CV, her name and her picture is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is digitaaltranslatins@gmail.com

January 2014

January 28, 2014: Advance payment scam under name “David Benson”

An advance payment scam was reported through the support system. In this case, the name used by the scammer was “David Benson”, and the email address used was dbenson39@yahoo.com

January 20, 2014: Overpayment scam as a job posting, by "Mattias Gillgren"

Job posting http://www.proz.com/job/852005 has been reported to be overpayment scam. The posting has been removed from ProZ.com now. The poster's name and email address was "Mattias Gillgren" and gillgren6gillgren@gmail.com . An alert has been sent to all those who submitted a quote on those postings.

January 16, 2014: Overpayment scam as a job posting, by "Gisela Hentges"

Job posting http://www.proz.com/job/850514 has been reported to be overpayment scam. The posting has been removed from ProZ.com now. The poster's name and email address was "Gisela Hentges" and load25427@hotmail.com . An alert has been sent to all those who submitted a quote on those postings

January 13, 2014: Fraudulent profile messages by a "paultwinee"

A scam has been reported to be sent through profile messages through site forums and the support system today. The message was sent by user "paultwinee" from email address paultwinee@gmail.com . The profile that sent it has been removed, but it was located at http://www.proz.com/profile/1871267 . Note that the profile had purchased membership before sending out the profile messages. Keep in mind that site membership is not enough to prove that a person is legitimate. As always, further steps must be taken to verify the identity of a person before collaborating with them.

This is the message being sent out by the scammer:

Hi,
I am willing to employ a competent individual to become my
Part-time Personal Assistant.
Would you be interested?
If yes, email me and i will respond with a detailed job
description.
Warm regards,
Paul

January 13, 2014: Advance payment scam under name "Jensen Rolf"

An advanced payment scam through a job posting was reported. In this case, the name used by the scammer was "Jensen Rolf", and the email address used was rolf.jensen58@yahoo.com . The scammer replied to quotes stating that he had cancer and was seeking treatment in South Africa. This continues to be a sure sign to identify scams. The job posting has been removed, but was located at http://www.proz.com/translation-jobs/818368

January 9, 2014: Impersonation under name "Mario Greenway"

ProZ.com member Marion Greenway, http://www.proz.com/profile/1014754 , has reported that her CV is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The name used by the scammer is "Mario Greenway" and the email address is mariogreenway00@gmail.com

December 2013

December 18, 2013: Advance payment scam using name "Tom Novak"

An advance payment scam was reported. In this case, the name used by the scammer was “Tom Novak”, and the email address used was novaktomg@gmail.com.

December 18, 2013: Advance payment scam using name "Alan Weigel"

An advance payment scam was reported. In this case, the name used by the scammer was Alan Weigel, and the email address used was weigel.alan55@gmail.com

December 16, 2013: Advance payment scam using name "Suzan Lizzy"

An advance payment scam was reported through the forums: http://www.proz.com/topic/260891 . In this case, the name used by the scammer is Suzan Lizzy, and the email addresses used are suzanlizzy20@yahoo.com and suzanlizzy39@yahoo.com

December 13, 2013: Advance payment scams as job postings

Job postings http://www.proz.com/job/837338 and http://www.proz.com/job/834712 have been reported to be overpayment scams. The postings have been removed from ProZ.com now. The poster's name and email address for them were "Abraham Werner" and wernerham55@hotmail.com . An alert has been sent to all those who submitted a quote on those postings.

December 6, 2013: Impersonation of a ProZ.com member

ProZ.com member Mohamed Rehan, http://www.proz.com/profile/1651573 , has reported that his CV is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The names used by the scammer are "Haneen (Ahmed) Yousef", "Haneen Yousef"and "Haneen Said", using email addresses: haneentranslation@gmail.com, tr.haneen@gmail.com, and translation.services88@hotmail.com

November 2013

November 28, 2013: Impersonation of a ProZ.com member

ProZ.com member marie-christine périé, http://www.proz.com/profile/68168 , has reported that her CV is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The name used by the scammer is "John Adams" and the email address is johnadamj1@gmail.com

November 22, 2013: Impersonation of a ProZ.com member

ProZ.com member Sameh Elnokaly, http://www.proz.com/profile/1256162, has reported that his name is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is sameh_elnokaly@aol.com and the phone number included in his messages is fake. This is the message sent out by the scammer:

Subject: Italian to English 15,000 word Project - Call for
Translators
To:
Dear Translators,
I am writing this emailing to enquiry about your availability to
translate a 15,000 word project which will be divided between
several Italian translators.
My client is requesting this translation, but since I translate
only English into Arabic I am looking for a long term Italian
Partner.
No CAT Tools are required for this project and the subject is in
the contract field.
The deadline for this project is Thursday Noon/Evening.
When replying to this email please write the amount of words that
you can handle for the above date.
Thank you for your collaboration.
Venlig Hilsen / Kind Regards / Cordiali Saluti

November 12, 2013: Scammer from Gaza

Company Arcadia Translations, http://www.arcadia-t.com/ , has reported that their name is being used to contact service providers by emai. The email address used by the scammer is fadi.mohd90@gmail.com , and the IP on the email addresses locates them in Gaza, like many other scams. This is the message being sent:

Hello
I'm working at Arcadia translation company. Our company
offers many kinds of the translation services , I am very
pleased to establish business with you, where I
work as a project coordinator between the client and the
translator
We are building our database of translators nowadays ,
hopfully to work with each other soon. Kindly , if you would
to join our database , please send me
your CV and cover letter.
fadi.mohd90@gmail.com via this Email :
looking for a positive reply.
Regards . Fadi mohd

November 12, 2013: Impersonation of a site member

ProZ.com member Alexa Dubreuil-Storer, http://www.proz.com/profile/58305 , has reported that her CV is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The name used by the scammer is "Nicole Morisette" and the email address is nicole.morisette@gmail.com

November 7, 2013: Advanced payment scam

An advanced payment scam was reported on site forums: http://www.proz.com/topic/258920 . In this case, the name used by the scammer was Dr. David Bone. The message being sent out was:

Hello Melanie,
I am Dr. David Bone by name,I got your email from atanet.org that you are
a translator.
I have this article i want you to help me translate from (English--German).
I would like to know your terms and how much it would cost for the article?
Hope to hear from you as soon as possible.
Dr. David Bone

November 1, 2013: Scammer operating under various names

AZZ Translation / Charles Azzopardy / Tecco Translations have been identified as identities used by a scammer contacting translators. These are the Blue Board records linked to those names: http://www.proz.com/blueboard/38864 , http://www.proz.com/blueboard/34805 , http://www.proz.com/blueboard/38729 . Other identities used by this scammer include the names David Higbee, Adam Matthews, among others that have not yet been identified. Note that these names are also used by legitimate translators. If you are contacted by a person with that name, make sure you are dealing with the legitimate translator.

October 2013

October 29, 2013: CV theft under name Alba Felix

ProZ.com member Adriana Latronico, http://www.proz.com/profile/61289 , has reported that her CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The CV includes name "Alba Felix" as well as her own, and is being sent from email address albatrans30@gmail.com

October 28, 2013: Attempt to gather data under name "Reham"

A new attempt by the impersonating scammers operating from Palestina to collect information from translators. This time they use the name Reham and email addresses reham@24translate.net, and speed4translation@gmail.com and the message says:

Thank you for your email.
I'm sorry for my little demand but we have a small request of one of our clients. Can you translate the words in red in Russian and deliver it asap.
Rate 0.04 USD/SW
I will send the PO after receiving the final confirmation.
Many thanks for your answer
Regards
Reham

October 18, 2013: Impersonation of a ProZ.com member

ProZ.com member Alexander Schleber has reported that his name, CV and qualifications are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The scammer uses the name amy dan and claims to belong to 'Schleber & Co. bvba' using the email address amydan98@gmail.com

October 17, 2013: Overpayment attempt from ‘kevin C. Bruns’

A job was posted at ProZ.com earlier this week by ‘kevin C. Bruns’ with email address kevinC.bruns@yahoo.com and the text “Translator who can translate a law file from English to French should kindly apply. Applications without a CV cannot be accepted.”

A colleague who applied received the following email:

“Thank you for your response. I am fighting with cancer at the moment and mostly in the hospital. I accept your quote and i am pleased to tell you that
i choose you to work on the project. My method of Payment is a euro bank Check. If you will agree with me,kindly let me know”

Payment in euro bank check by someone who claims to live in the U.S. is very suspicious, while “fighting a cancer” is the signature for a known “advance payment” scam. Translators are advised to stay away from this “job”.

October 15, 2013: Phishing attempt

A phishing attempt to get login details from hosting clients is being sent by an alleged 'CPanel Network Server Monitor´ from the address administrator@traduction-ortho.com with the text:

Remember that a service provider will never ask you to submit your username and password. Also, any legitimate ProZ.com hosting emails should come from an @proz.com email address.

September 2013

September 25, 2013: Impersonation of a company

Company Eurologos Toronto, http://www.proz.com/blueboard/4317 , has reported that their name is being used by a scammer to contact service providers. The email address used by the scammer is soniaeurologos@gmail.com . Keep in mind that said company only uses email address hosted at eurologos-toronto.com.

September 24, 2013: Impersonation of a ProZ.com member

ProZ.com member Pasquale Capo, http://www.proz.com/profile/2203 , has reported that his CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is pasqual1capo@gmail.com.

September 19, 2013: Impersonation of a ProZ.com member

ProZ.com member DavidH, http://www.proz.com/translator/119147 , has reported that his name and CV are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email address used by the scammer is david.higbee@gmx.com.

September 17, 2013: Impersonation of a ProZ.com member

ProZ.com member Lara Barnett, http://www.proz.com/profile/1213228 , has reported that her name, CV and qualifications are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The email addresses used are lara.barnett@yahoo.com, lara.barnet.1@gmail.com and lara.barnet.2@gmail.com. The only email addressed used by Lara Barnett are larabarnett@gmail.com and lara@lingocraft.co.uk.

September 12, 2013: Overpayment scams through job postings

Job postings http://www.proz.com/job/806410 and http://www.proz.com/job/811208 have been reported to be overpayment scams. The postings have been removed from ProZ.com now. The name and email address for them was "Roland Abraham", rolandabraham121@gmail.com ; and "Henry Aurélie", aureliehenry270@gmail.com .

September 6, 2013: Impersonation of a ProZ.com member

ProZ.com member Ingo Dierkschnieder, http://www.proz.com/profile/66920 , has reported that his CV is being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The name used by the scammer is "Aldo Emil", and the email addresses used by the scammer are aldo.emil1@yahoo.com, as.trans.comp1@gmail.com and aldoemil.tr@gmail.com

August 2013

August 30, 2013: Advanced payment scams with a text on agriculture

Job postings http://www.proz.com/job/799690 and http://www.proz.com/job/803824 have been reported to be advanced payment scams. Both requested the translation of a file from the OECD on agriculture. The postings have been removed from ProZ.com now. The name and email address for them was "Danz Vincent", danz0vincent55@gmail.com ; and "Jorg Arnold", jorg.arnold55@gmail.com .

August 22, 2013: Impersonation of ProZ.com member "ChicagoPhDs"

A couple of eagle-eyed agencies (thank you!) have alerted us to another CV scam. ProZ.com member ChicagoPhDs http://www.proz.com/profile/81120, has discovered that modified materials from their wife/husband translation team CV (until recently openly available through their ProZ profile portal) are being used by scammers to contact translators and translation companies. The names used by the scammer are "Hisayo Shikakura" and "Gavin W. Hougham," and the scammer's email address is listed as phd.hisayo.gavin.jap@gmail.com. Both of those names belong to real ProZ members dba ChicagoPhDs, but the real members do not use that gmail email address. The modified fake MSWord CV lists "Beso" as the author in the "Properties" section. To the best of our knowledge our ProZ profile and contact emails (anomi3@yahoo.com, ghougham@yahoo.com) have not been compromised, so please contact us only through those emails or directly through our ProZ profile.

August 21, 2013: Advanced payment scam

An advanced payment scam through a job posting was reported. In this case, the name used by the scammer was "jose Luis Perez Santamaria", and the email address used was jose.luis.p.santamaria@gmail.com. The scammer replied immediately to quotes stating that he had cancer. This continues to be a sure sign to identify scams. The job posting has been removed, but was located at http://www.proz.com/job/803644

August 15, 2013: Impersonation of a ProZ.com member

ProZ.com member Gwynneth George, http://www.proz.com/profile/37108 , has reported that her CV is being used by scammers contacting translators and translation companies. The name used by the scammer is "Laura White", and the email address is laurawhite.translator@gmail.com . Fake contact information included in the modified CV used by the scammer is "Date of Birth: February 5, 1965 Address: B219, East Dulwich, London/UK. Tel: +44(0) 7984 245 442"

August 8, 2013: Overpayment scam through PayPal

An overpayment scam has been reported. It was sent with the name "Tamara Nicole", and from email addresstam96nic_24@hotmail.com. A translation was requested on the subject of guidance to good health. Overpayment in this case was proposed through PayPal, in this message:

I just remembered that my transfer limit starts from USD 750. So, I will transfer the payment to your account and I will have your word that you will return the excess money to me after the payment.
I really need the job done and am really out of time.
Please reply so I will know your decision.

August 7, 2013: Impersonation of company Crystal Samples

It was reported that company Crystal Samples, http://www.proz.com/blueboard/20701 , is being impersonated by a scammer. If you are contacted by Crystal Samples, by a person using email address crystal.samples@gmx.com or crystal.samplese@gmail.com, please report it to site staff so action can be taken. Please see http://www.proz.com/post/2131736#2131736 for more information.

August 5, 2013: Advanced payment scam

An advanced payment scam through a job posting was reported. In this case, the name used by the scammer was Tomas Gonzalez Ruiz, and the email address used was gonzalezruizt@gmail.com. The scammer replied immediately to quotes stating that he had cancer, and was seeking treatment in Cape Town. This continues to be a sure sign to identify scams. The job posting has been removed, but was located at http://www.proz.com/job/794236

July 2013

July 30, 2013: Samples of messages sent out by Translation Secrets

Dear freelancer,
I am a project manager in a translation secrets company, I am interested to work with you and I am looking for excellent freelancer translators who can translate Italian > Portuguese and vice versa. Freelancers must have the following qualifications.
1- Can finish the project within the agreed upon period
2- Have an experience of at least one year.
We are searching for the best to collaborate with us now and in the future. If you are interested please send your CV and cover letter to email S.Khafaja@translationsecrets.com
you can get more information about my company from link http://www.translationsecrets.com/
Looking forward to hearing from you

If that message is replied to, they will send this authorization agreement:

Authorization and Agreement
Can you give us permission, authorization and agreement in order for us to send your CV to our clients?
If yes, we will remove your contact details to avoid direct contacts with clients. In this case, we will use a free email, in which we will include your CV in order to receive projects and therefore we will reply on your behalf.
We can also email your certificates if needed to clients on your behalf. We will give you the projects and in cases when you are not available, we will give the projects to other translators.
If you agree, you will be considered as a close team member and consequently you will be eligible for any developmental plan. This is part of group work based on mutual cooperation because the translation market is full of competition.
Please let me know so that we start work. If you agree, sign this authorization and agreement document.
Your name
Your signature

July 29, 2013: Overpayment scam including a text on child trafficking

An overpayment scam has been reported. It was sent with the name "Louis GERRARD", and from email address louis.gerrardxxl@gmail.com. A translation was requested, on the subject of child trafficking.

July 22, 2013: Overpayment scam including a text on adolescence

An overpayment scam has been reported. It was sent with the name "Terry James", and from email address chineryzone001@hotmail.com . The message included an attachment titled "ADOLESCENCE" and read:

SERVICES NEEDED
Dear Sir/Ma,
Good Morning to you and am Terry James
Translators,Writer,Editor and Proofreader is needed urgently....If you are a translator check the document attach to this mail and let me know if you can translate it from English to Spanish,French,German or what is your language combination i mean from English to which language can you translate to.
But if you are a Writer,Editor and Proofreader get back to me so i can send you the document you are to edit and proofread?
So get back to me if you are available and i will like you review the document attach and let me know how much you charge per page or words.I will be waiting till i hear back from you.
Kind Regards,
TJ.
Terry James
202 Tours Street
Lafayette, Louisiana 70506

July 15, 2013: Impersonation of ProZ.com member C.Nanz

ProZ.com member C.Nanz, http://www.proz.com/profile/1434710 , has reported that her name and CV are being used by scammers contacting translators and translation companies. Email addresses known to be used by the scammer are carolin.nanz@hotmail.com and carolin.nanz.lang@gmail.com. The only legitimate email addresses used by this translator are hosted at her professional websites: nanz-translations.com and nanz-uebersetzungen.de.

July 10, 2013: Translation Secrets sending translation tests including the logo of a legitimate company

It was reported that known scammers Translation Secrets, http://www.proz.com/blueboard/9086 , is sending out translation tests including the logo for Lingo24 Ltd., a legitimate company. Note that there is no connection between Translation Secrets and Lingo24. You can find the Blue Board record for Lingo24 Ltd. here: http://www.proz.com/blueboard/801 . The messages including those tests were sent out with name Mohammed Alkurd, from email address alkurd09@gmail.com

June 2013

June 28, 2013: Impersonation of ProZ.com member Patrizia Cipolla

ProZ.com member Patrizia Cipolla, http://www.proz.com/profile/100185 , has reported that her name and CV are being used by scammers contacting translators and translation companies. Email addresses known to be used by the scammer are patrizia101cipolla@gmail.com , freelancernewman@gmail.com , pcipolla101@hotmail.com . The only email addresses used by Patrizia Cipolla are patrizia.cipolla@libero.it and patriziacipolla@gmail.com . If you are contacted in her name from any other email address, please report it to site staff.

June 25, 2013: Impersonation of company LanguageWire

It was reported through the support system that company LanguageWire is being impersonated by a scammer (Languagemet). If you are contacted by LanguageWire, with contact name Sara Tomson and email address sara.thomson88@gmail.com, please report it to site staff so action can be taken.

June 7, 2013: Advanced payment scam

An advanced payment scam sent through profile messages was reported. In this case, the name used by the scammer was Eric Marchal, and the email address used was marchalericmood@gmx.fr. The job poster had registered a profile (now removed) on ProZ.com as well, with username "Ericwork".

May 2013

May 29, 2013: Impersonation of a ProZ.com member

ProZ.com member Isabel Freitas has reported that her CV and cover letter are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The scammer uses email addresses isabel.portuguese7@gmail.com and isabel.portuguese@hotmail.com

May 28, 2013: Advanced payment scam

An advanced payment scam was reported through the support system. The name being used for the scam was "Nigel Jennett", and the email address n.jennett1@gmail.com . The message being sent out was:

Greetings!
I'm Nigel Jennett, based in Atlanta,Georgia State in the
U.S.A.I'll be making a presentation to some groups of Hebrew
speaking people in Tel Aviv,Israel on the 12th of
July,2013.However,i will need you to help me translate some
documents from English to Hebrew,so each of my audience can have a
copy in their local language and they can follow through.The
deadline for the delivery of translations is July
9,2013.Please,let me have an estimate for the documents(see
attached).I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
Best Regards,
Nigel

May 24, 2013: Advanced payment scam by a "salesattendant7"

An advanced payment scam sent through profile messages was reported. In this case, the name used by the scammer was Fried Morhart, and the email address used was salesattendant77@outlook.com. The job poster had registered a profile (now removed) on ProZ.com as well, with username "salesattendant7".

May 20, 2013: Impersonation

Proz.com member Sara Brown, http://www.proz.com/profile/111349 , has reported that her CV is being sent out by scammers (Languagemet) contacting translators and translation companies. The email addresses known to be used by the scammer are dreine60@gmail.com and sarabrown249@gmail.com

May 16, 2013: Impersonation of a ProZ.com member

ProZ.com member Imme Haage, http://www.proz.com/profile/82680 has reported that her name is being used by scammers contacting translators and translation companies. The email addresses known to be used by the scammer are imme.haage@yahoo.com and translation.work99@gmail.com

May 15, 2013: Impersonation by Languagemet

ProZ.com member Annemieke Blondeel, http://www.proz.com/profile/1094155 , has reported that her name is being used by scammers (Languagemet) contacting translators and translation companies. An email address known to be used by the scammer is annemieke.a.l.blondeel@hotmail.com

May 14, 2013: Advanced payment scam

An advanced payment scam through a job posting was reported. In this case, the name used by the scammer was Antonio Cilleros Sanchez, and the email address used was cilleros.sanchez@gmx.es. The scammer replied immediately to quotes stating that he had cancer. This continues to be a sure sign to identify scams. The job posting has been removed, but was located at http://www.proz.com/translation-jobs/766796

May 14, 2013: Impersonation of an outsourcer

Company W&R Linguistic Services, http://www.proz.com/blueboard/11044 , has reported being impersonated by a person using the name "Shiona Oldham " and email address wr.linguistics.trans@gmail.com . Keep in mind that said company only uses email address hosted at wilkes-rowe.com

May 3, 2013: Impersonation of a ProZ.com member

ProZ.com member Sarai Pahla has reported that her name and CV are being used by scammers contacting translators and translation companies, on http://www.proz.com/topic/248243 . An email address known to be used by the scammer sarai.pahla@gmail.com . Sarai lists the only email addresses she uses on the forum post I linked.

April 2013

April 23, 2013: Advanced payment scam with a text on child abuse

An advanced payment scam was reported through the support system. The name being used for the scam was "Nuvo Wolfsberg", and the email address nuvo.wolfsberg@gmail.com . The message being sent out was:

Dear Translator,
I got your contact from http://www.vzv.info and your service is needed urgently for the translation of an article, I want the document titled CHILD ABUSE worth 10,382 word to be translated from English to Dutch with the fixed deadline date (15/06/2013).
Here are the details about the document:
Source Language: English
Target Language: Dutch
Subject: Child Abuse
Total Word Count: 10,382
Delivery Date: June 15th, 2013
Please confirm to me on your availability for this project including the following:
* Your price rate per source word
* Mode of payment
* Terms and conditions that surrounds your service.
I await your mail while i supply you with more detail.
Best Regards,
Nuvo Wolfsberg

April 23, 2013: Advanced payment scam directed at interpreters

An advanced payment scam was reported through the support system. The name being used for the scam was "Edmonds Bate" and "Ed Bate", and the email address ed_bate06@hotmail.com . The message being sent out was:

Hi,
My wife and two daughters will be visiting Mississauga ON in May 20th 2013,i need a reputable french translator,kindly write about your self and the couple of works you have done.
Let me tell you a little more about my family.
My daughter's names are Lizzy Edmond's,19 Judy Edmond's she is 21 years,both single.they don't drink or smoke,their hobbies are reading,swimming for fun and playing golf most of the time. My Full Name: Mr. Edmond's Bate, and my wife's name: Keisha Edmond's We have been happily married for over 40 years now and we are richly blesses with two daughters.
We are very happy families and my kids are very nice and respectful and responsible. We live in UK, I worked with UN in the UK while my wife is a Nurse.
Hoping to hear from you.
Ed.

April 22, 2013: Modified "Nigerian" scam

A modified "Nigerian scam" was reported as being sent through profile message. The email address was mrjackalex1@yahoo.fr and the name was "Mr Jack Alex" or "Alex Inter Sarl". The IP address locates the sender in Benin, Africa. This is the message being sent out:

Dear Friend,
I am Mr.Jack Alex, I want to know if you can allow me invest
my money in your company as your partner.
I have been into real estate business for many years until
my recent retirement following my doctor's advice for me to
avoid any form of stress because of my failing health.
please tell me, can you invest my money for me? if you
agree, we shall both share the total annual profit.
I am contacting you for this Because I do not want any of my
family member to be aware of this, I therefore demand you
treat this very confidential.
I will give you details of the funds and the transfer as
soon as I receive your response.
I seek for your corporation and sincerity towards this
business. Please contact me immediately via email:
mrjackalex1@yahoo.fr with your complete names
,age,occupation, address, and numbers (Phone and Fax)
Most Regard.
Mr.Jack Alex,
22997736478

April 16, 2013: Another advanced payment scam

An advanced payment scam through a job posting was reported. In this case, the name used by the scammer was Gervais Frederic, and the email address used was gervais.frederic@gmx.com. The scammer replied immediately to quotes stating that he had cancer. This continues to be a sure sign to identify scams. The job posting has been removed, but was located at http://www.proz.com/translation-jobs/756254

April 16, 2013: Advanced payment scam

An advanced payment scam through a job posting was reported. In this case, the name used by the scammer was Giuseppe Calcagno, and the email address used was calcalcagno@aol.de. The job posting has been removed, but was located at http://www.proz.com/job/758663

The scammer replied to quotes with this message:

Hello (name),
Thank you for your response. I am fighting with cancer and mostly in the hospital.This text is private for my client and not to be published in anyway.
I accept your quote of (proposed price) and delivery date also i am pleased to tell you that i choose you to work on the project.
My client method of Payment is a Euro bank Cheque. If you will agree with me, let me know so i can email to you my information for invoice and you can start.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Regards

April 15, 2013: Impersonation of a ProZ.com member

ProZ.com member Beatriz Cirera has reported that her CV and name are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The CV has been modified to include this contact information:
Te.: 54 3572 527921
Fax: 54 3262 438531
Cell: 54 3392 15294784
Email(s) : beatriz.cirera@yahoo.com
t.beatriz.cireta@gmail.com

April 11, 2013: Impersonation of a ProZ.com member

ProZ.com member Marianne Pasty-Abdul Wahid has reported that her name and an old modified version of her CV are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The name used by the scammer is just "Marianne Pasty" and the email address is marianne.pasty@hotmail.com.

Hello,
My name is Ralph Damani from New York,USA.I need you to
translate a document for me from English to Japanese as i
will be coming to Japan next month to scout for football
player.See the attached file and let me know the total
cost.I will await your response.
Regards
Ralph

April 9, 2013: Impersonation of a ProZ.com member

ProZ.com member Mustafa Er has reported that his CV and picture are being used by a scammer to contact outsourcers. The name used by the scammer is "Ahmet Abdullayev" and the email address is abdullayevahmet.Turkish@gmail.com.

April 8, 2013: Advanced payment scam

A new instance of an advanced payment was reported in a job posting. In this case, the name used by the scammer was Walker Heidi, and the email address used was walkerheidi55@gmail.com. The job posting has been removed, but was located at http://www.proz.com/translation-jobs/752822

If you find a job posting that could be fraudulent, please report it to site staff by submitting a support request: http://www.proz.com/support/

March 2013

March 28, 2013: A member reports that his name and CV are being used by scammers

ProZ.com member Sebastian Witte has reported that his name and CV are being used by scammers contacting translators and translation companies, on http://www.proz.com/topic/245932 . Email addresses known to be used by the scammer are sebastian.translator@hotmail.com and sebastian.lingo@gmail.com . Sebastian lists the only email addresses he uses on the forum post I linked.

March 22, 2013: Advanced payment scam

An advanced payment scam was reported that had been posted as a job on ProZ.com. The name used was "Thomas Gård" and the contact email address gardt101@gmail.com . As usual, the job poster claimed to be ill and in need of surgery.

March 15, 2013: Messages from Languagemet with name "Riham"

Another set of contact information used by Languagemet was reported on http://www.proz.com/topic/245236 . The name used was "Riham" and the email address was danyasalama@gmail.com . This is the message being sent:

Hello
Nice to meet you and it is a pleasure to deal with you.
I am a project manager in Language Met company for
translation, we have many projects in your language pair
andI have seen your profile and
will be glad if you accept to work with each other in the
nearly future .
I wait for your swift respond so I can give you more details
and I
hope to be positive .
Thank you and be blessed ,,,
Regards
Riham

March 12, 2013: Two advanced payment scams

Two advance payment scams were reported, using the following sets of contact information:

March 7, 2013: Advanced payment scam by a "Donaldson Brian"

An advanced payment scam using the name "Donaldson Brian" and email address donabrian6@gmail.com has been reported. This is the message being sent out:

Hello,
My name is Donaldson Brian from Michigan,USA.I need you to
translate a document for me from English to Chinese as i
will be going to china next month to scout for football
player.See the attached file and let me know the total
cost.I will await your response.
Regards
Donaldson

March 4, 2013: Messages and email addresses used by Translation Secrets

A set of messages used by Translation Secrets, http://www.proz.com/blueboard/9086 , trying to gather CVs used by translators has been submitted through the support system. The email address used to send these messages was aasheqaa5@gmail.com and the name "Lola abd" . I paste the messages below:

Subject: Re: An English to Japanese translator needed
I am interested in your CV.
Can you give us permission and agreement in order for us to send
your
CV to our clients?
If yes, we will remove your contact details to avoid direct
contacts
with clients.
We will give you the projects and in cases when you are not
available,
we will give the projects to other translators.
Please let me know so that we can start collaboration.
Best regards

Dear ,
I got your contact details from your C.V on Proze.com ,, There is no problem if you translate only from Japanese to English
.
We will discuss everything don't worry it will be negotiated when
I give you the project ,you can give us your rate and the way you
want us to pay for you .. waiting for your reply .

March 2, 2013: Names and email addresses used by advanced payment scammers

Several reports of advance payment scams were made in the last few days. The contact information used by the scammers were names "Larry Gordon" and "Dolores Blanco Perez", and ROBERTO75@gmx.com and doloresblancoperez55@gmail.com as email addresses.

February 2013

February 26, 2013: Impersonation of company Perfect Translations

It was reported on http://www.proz.com/topic/243857 , that company Perfect Translations is being impersonated. If you are contacted by Perfect Translations, with contact name Leslie Bosch and an email address NOT hosted at perfecttranslations.com, please report it to site staff so action can be taken. You can read more information about this scam in the forum post linked above.

February 22, 2013: Message being sent out by Languagemet

A message sent by Languagemet reported on http://www.proz.com/post/2098672#2098672 . The email address used was friend.of.translation@gmail.com and the IP address was 37.8.63.69 (Palestinian territories). This is the message that was being sent out:

Dear Lau as apart of my work , I am doing my best to find translators
who are qualified enough to be with me in my work , so after I have read your CV , and found it so interesting . I see it
will be more than Great to work with a translator as skilled as
you so do please send me your CV and your cover letter to my e-
mail address PM_N@Languagemet.com to be with me in the upcoming work Kind regards Project Manger Jasmine

A list of email addresses used by Translation Secrets / Languagemet: http://www.proz.com/blueboard/9086 , has been made supplied through the support system. They have been blocked from ProZ.com, but be wary if you receive emails from these addresses: alkurd09@gmail.com , kweichang6@gmail.com , translationsecretsax@gmail.com , Reem@translationsecrets.com , alkurd@TranslationSecrets.com

February 14, 2013: Fraudulent job offers in the name of Woodridge Hotel

The following job being currently offered to translators is a scam:

Woodrigde Hotel urgently requires the services of reputable and devoted translators. Qualified persons should contact us immediately for job placement.
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
Employment Type: Full Time
Monthly Salary: depending on level of experience
Preferred Language of Resume/Application: English
Years of Work Experience: One year minimum
Benefits: Accommodation, Relocation allowance, transportation allowance, one hour of lunch break(meal) every day, six (6) weeks paid annual leave every year, fourteen (14) days of paid sick leave per calendar year.

The message is being sent in the name of a "Nicholas Gotler" from email address hr@woodrigde.com , from an IP in Lagos, Nigeria. If you receive this offers, please let site staff know so action can be taken.

February 12, 2013: More translators report being impersonated

The scam alert message sent yesterday was anwered by two new reports of ProZ.com members CVs being used by scammers to scam clients and other translators.

Clothilde Courtois reports that her identity and CV are being stolen by scammers using the email address clothilde.courtoiis.tra@gmail.com

Also, Mihail Mateev's CV is being appropriated by scamers who use the name Emma John and the email address Emma12John@yahoo.com

Both translators and outsourcers should make sure to have a positive identification of strangers contacting them with a business proposition. In the case of an agency contacted by a translator, they should for instance ask for confirmation using the "sent email" feature in the service provider's ProZ.com profile.

February 11, 2013: Scammers impersonating Ana Maria Gomes da Costa

ProZ.com member Ana Maria Gomes da Costa reports that her CV is being used by scammers offering translation services in her name from the fake address maria111gomes@hotmail.com

February 8, 2013: Scammers impersonating Silvia Cipriani

A user has reported on http://www.proz.com/topic/242863 that her CV and name are being used by impersonators. If you are contacted by people using email addresses silvia.cipriani3@yahoo.com or silvia.cipriani.italy@gmail.com please report them to site staff. These addresses are not used by the real Silvia Cipriani.

February 6, 2013: New message from Translation Secrets

There have been reports of messages sent by banned company Translation Secrets, http://www.proz.com/blueboard/9086, using email address translationsecretsae@gmail.com. This is the text on the emails:

Hello
Are you available please.
I have 20k words i need on the 7th of this month, but you can take a part of it, and the rate is 0.035$/source word.
I'm not paid much for this, cause the client might send more work, means the project is big, in this case, the client pays less.
Let me know if you could help.
The pair is Swedish to English and the field is technical.
Kind Regards,

January 2013

January 30, 2013: Further information on a previously reported scam

Further information has been supplied on an advance payment scam reported in the scam alert sent on January 18. The scammer has used several different names: Renardo, Dernador, Denardo and Victor Denard. The email address is the same as reported before: denardvicc@gmail.com. This person's access to ProZ.com has been blocked. You can find more information about this on http://www.proz.com/topic/241481

January 28, 2013: a Magazine publisher in Ghana

A scam message is being sent using the email address musicinst678@gmail.com and the name Terry John, from "a Magazine publisher in Ghana", but the
IP address is from Nigeria, the name of the agency is not revealed and the email address is a free account (OK for individuals but an alert when used by alleged corporate clients):

We are a Magazine publisher in Ghana, Africa.
Our client requires a magazine from us to be made in French/Spanish,as a result,we want to outsource the translation of a part of it .
We are in need of a competent translator from English to French/Spanish.
Please we would like to know if you are available to do that at this time with a 2 weeks deadline?
Let me have a quote for the attached document.
Where are you located?
Expecting to hear from you soon.
Regards
Terry John

January 23, 2013: Messages from "Gate Scott"

A scam message is being reported as sent using the name 'Gate Scott' and email addresses scottgate088@gmail.com and scottgate022@gmail.com:

Subject: {language}
Hello,
I'm Scott,Can you translate the attached document to {language} and can it be delivered before 10th of Feb,2013?
Reply asap with your rate and charges.
Scott
9548376593

January 21, 2013: Beginner colleague victim of an overpayment scam

The following report was received about an overpayment scam poster using the email address tmxycw10(AT)gmail.com

After discussing with XXX who agreed to my quote, we decided that I would translate a medical document about cancer and that I would deliver it on 19 November.
This person told me she suffered from cancer herself but after checking her name and address on Internet, I just felt sorry for her and I started
working on the translation.
The work was done on time and a few days later, I received the Euro payment by checks but my bank has just advised me that the checks were fake!
(apparently, it takes about 5 weeks to check the authenticity of the checks when they actually said to me that it would take 10 days..but that’s a different story)
I am a beginner in the translation industry and I worked very hard to do a high quality translation work (around 5000 words and three days work) but
this person abused me. Needless to say that I tried to contact her but she had long been gone! I have decided to press charges against this person
although I am aware that this might be useless. However, please let your members know about my misfortune and kindly tell them to be suspicious if
someone asks them to translate such a document and if they are asked to transfer any money difference via Western Union."

The golden rule when approached by a stranger with a business proposition is getting verifiable contact information and verifying it. In this case the
name, address and phone number provided could be found in Google, but of course the same info could be picked from the same source by the scammers, and you are at risk if you trust that they are related to the email address provided.
Calling the phone number provided adds an independent verification, and this small investment can protect you from being scammed.

January 10, 2013: Fred Hills does not care about rates

Scam job offer allegedly sent by "Fred Hills" using the address fhills43@yahoo.com

Hello,
My name is Fred Hills and I am from the UK. My clIents need
reliable persons that will translate some document therefore, We
need efficient translators that are capable of translating the
documents for my organisation.
Below are the details:
Subject: Conflict Management
Return date: 30 April , 2013 (Let me know if this date is not ok
for you)
Mode of payment: secure cashier cheque
Language of document : English
Langauge to be translated to : French or German
Note: Please if you cannot translate the document to the stated
languages, Please advise me on the languages that you can do so
that I will advise my clients.
Do get back to me as soon as possible and let me know if you are
capable to translate it.
Once I recieve your email i will send the documents to you.
Regards

Besides the poor English and the total lack of information on the organization or the project, a Google search will show that the address fhills43@yahoo.com has been involved in several scams. Also note that they state a target language and a deadline but they are very ready to compromise on both, and they don't ask about your rates!

January 9, 2013: Cindy Ross and Brooke Nelson

Overpayment scam messages have been reported, sent using the name 'cindy ross', address cr250025(at)gmail.com or 'Brooke Nelson', address brnelson2500(at)gmail.com

"Hello,
As am browsing through the profiles translators on proz.com I came across your profile,I kindly want you to translate my book that I need to translate
kindly get back to me on the language you handle from English If you are interested in translating for me kindly contact me back immediately you
received my message for more information about the project."

A colleague who wrote to discuss rates and deadlines got the following reply (that also asked for a lot of personal and banking data):

"Attached is the project. Payment shall be in 2x . First payment of 50% and the balance of 50% on completion or a week to 2 weeks interval.I await the
total estimates and necessary details to making the payment. My client has chosen check payment this has been method of payment from the past."

Again the warning signs are the lack of details on outsourcer and project, the fact that they ask you for your language pairs, focus on payment over
rates and deadlines, very poor language skills and inconsistencies such as moving from "my book" to "my client".

January 7, 2013: Update on scams reported

Hello,
As am browsing through the profiles on www.translatorpub.com I came across your profile,I kindly want you to translate one of my book that I need to translate ,am a private investor. If you are interested in translating for me kindly let me know the language you can handle from English, kindly contact me back immediately you received my message for more information about the project.

And a still simpler scam sent by 'Michael' from mischuster001@gmail.com

I would like to translate the book in engineering from English to German.
The book contain 893 pages.
If you are interested, please let me know your rate, lead time and your CV.
Regards,
Michael

January 4, 2013: Probable scam message sent by "Jasmine Adamz"

A probable scam message sent by "Jasmine Adamz" has been reported through the support system. The message reads:

Dear (name)
I have read your CV and I found it so interesting . I will be more
than happy to work with a translator as skilled as you so do
please send me your CV and your cover letter to my e-mail address
Friend.of.translation(AT)gmail.com to be with me in the upcoming
work
Kind regards Project Manger Jasmine

Please note that no organization is mentioned here. When the translator asked for more details, the 'client' replied:

sorry not to mention that ,I Work at languagemet company which is
Known as one of the leading language services providing with
clients based all over the world .Ever since it started. We cover
translations for all languages. Our skillful translators and
linguists are chosen for their fluency and expertise in a wide
range of market sectors along with their cultural and commercial
awareness ensuring that your translation is not mere words.

January 1, 2013: Laqueen Hotel asks for interpreters

A job asking for interpreters has been posted by La Queens Hotel but a deeper investigation later revealed that the hotel's web page has been copied from another web page belonging to Heartland Hotel Corporation. The corresponding domain was created on Dec 04, 2012.

Because of this, the posted job is considered to be a scam operation similar to the one described here

December 2012

December 31, 2012: Andrew Miller reported very active again

Overpayment scammer Andrew Miller, already reporrted in our scam alert of September 3, 2012, is being reported as very active, with
the following message (target language changes depending on the victim):

“Greetings,
I'm Andrew,I need to make a presentation to some groups of French speaking people in Paris,France.I need you to translate the papers
from English to French.Moreover can it be delivered before 27th of Jan,2013?
Let me know your rate and charges.Presentation is attached,looking forward to hear back from you soon.
Andrew
8305154169”

December 27: Likely scam messages from Palestina

A likely scam has been reported through the forums and the support system. This is the forum post about it http://www.proz.com/topic/239819 .
In both cases, the email address used was georgeyala8@gmail.com and the contact name Georg Ayala or George Ayala . While the offer does not include
any giveaway signs of being fraudulent, the IP address is from Palestine, which is suspicious considering the ongoing scams reported on ttp://www.proz.com/topic/230462
Remember that messages sent through ProZ.com show the IP address of the sender, which can be used to track their location with LookUp tools such as the one on http://www.melissadata.com/Lookups/iplocation.asp

December 20, 2012: Advanced payment scam with a repeated set of contact information

An instance of an advanced payment scam was reported recently. In this case, the name used was "Ana Mesa". This is the correspondence reported by a user as sent by this person:

1-
Hello,
As am browsing through the profiles translators on
www.translatorpub.com I came across your profile,I kindly want you
to
translate one of my book that I need to translate kindly get back
to
me on the language you handle from English If you are interested
in
translating for me kindly
contact me back immediately you received my message for more
information about the project.
Thanks,
Regards
2-
Attached is the project. Payment shall be in 2x . First payment of
50%
and the balance of 50%oncompletion or a week to 2 weeks interval.
I await the total estimates and necessary details to
making the payment. My client has chosen check payment this has
been
method of payment from the past. Email me your
full Name:
Address:
City:
Country
State:
Zip Code:
Phone:
The details above shall be used to forward the pament to you.
Regards.
3-
Hello
your details as been forwarded I will kindly persuade you that we
should wait for the process of the payment and then commence on
the
files for the translation. Honesty is a key to a successful
career, so
please confirm to me when you receive the payment. Thanks
Regards
4-
Hello
There is no need for you to open another account before you cash
this Travelers Cheques, you can easily cash it instantly either
at
your bank or at any bank around you, but the bank will only
deduct
exchange fee from the money. Below are the
instruction for cashing the Travelers Cheques, Firstly, you must
sign
and write your name on each Cheques from home before going for
the
cashing at your bank, but you will have to write the date and
countersign at the bank when the cashier instruct you to do so.
AT
HOME BEFORE GETTING TO THE BANK A) You must put your signature on
the
first line of all cheques where it says "SIGN HERE IMMEDIATELY
UPON
RECEIPT OF THIS TRAVELERS CHEQUE" B) Write your names on the 2nd
line
where it says
"PAY TO THE ORDER OF"exactly as it appears on your identity
material
to be used because Payee may ask for your ID; a driving licence
or
passport should suffice, and doing so would most usefully be
towards
the end of comparing the signature on the ID with those on the
Cheques. AT THE FRONT OF THE BANK CASHIER C)Write the date on the
last
line where it says "DATE" D) You shall sign again on the last
line
where it says "COUNTERSIGN HERE IN PRESENCE OF THE PERSON
CASHING"
Please this instructions are very important and will enable you
in
exchanging the Cheques instantly. Waiting to hear from
you soonest.

Note that the contact information was "12 Belgrave Rd London E13 8RS, UK +44 703 591" a set of information that has already been reported to be used by these kind of scams.

December 18, 2012: Impersonation of company Indus Translation Services

December 14, 2012: Kenneth Clark and the racial discrimination

Earlier this month we reported a scam attempt asking for the translation of a document on sex discrimination and now we got one on racial discrimination. Overpayment scammers tend to use certain "signature" issues or expressions over and over again. This time 'Kenneth Clark' wrote:

Dear Translator,
Your service will be needed urgently for the translation of an article from English to Chinese, I have a son that studies in University of Lyon,
France, He wants the document to be translated from English to Chinese on Perspectives on Racial descrimination in a society worth 12,350 words with
the deadline date(28/01/2013).
Please confirm to me on your availability for this project, your price rate per source word also get back to me on your terms and conditions that
surrounds your service.
I await your mail while i supply you with more detail.
Best Regards,
Kenneth Clark

December 10, 2012: Translation secrets asks for permission to use your CV

The same 'Authorization and Agreement' form reported in our alert messages of September 12, October 16 and December 7 has been sent to a colleague by Mohammed Rantisi using the email m.rantisi@TranslationSecrets.com

Hi,
I am projects manager from translation secrets company and I saw your profile in proz.comand I found you qualified to work with us as translator.
Please sign attached paper to start sending projects to you.
Best regards,
Mohammed Rantisi |Translation Secrets Project Management & Recruitment Department Office | Gaza, Palestine.
URL: www.TranslationSecrets.com"

December 9, 2012: Another victim of the 'presentation abroad' scam

Another colleague reported being the victim of the 'presentation abroad' scam, this time from a "client" using the name 'Mark Davis
of Eagle Finance in Atlanta, GA' and the address markdv112(AT)gmail.com

The message was:

I'm Mark Davis from Atlanta,Georgia and i'll be heading to the United Kingdom for a business presentation on Monday.I'll be making a
presentation to some groups of Japanese speaking people in Tokyo on the 10th of January.I will need you to help me translate some
documents from English to Japanese,so each of my audience can have a copy in their local language and they can follow through.The
deadline for the delivery of translations is January 7,2012.Please,let me have an estimate for the documents(see attached).I look
forward to hearing back from you soon."

The translator received a check for 4 times the agreed amount and was asked to cash it and return the balance to the scammer via Western Union. The translator didn't fall for it, but lost the work done for the scammer.
Remember to always get verifiable contact information from the 'clients' and verify it. Also be double careful when you get messages from alleged corporations sent from a free email address.
Finally, be familiar with current scams. This particular scam has been reported many times though these alerts. Help other colleagues get protected, let them know about this service!

December 7, 2012: Requests to use your CV still active

The scam operation based in Gaza, Palestine reported at http://www.proz.com/topic/230462 is still being reported as active. Translators have been asked
to authorize the use of their CVs and personal and professional data by 'maiss shanti' and 'Jennifer Tom', with the following message:

I Work at languagemet company which is Known as one of the leading language services providing with clients based all over the world .Ever since it
started. We cover translations for all languages. Our skillful translators and linguists are chosen for their fluency and expertise in a wide range of
market sectors along with their cultural and commercial awareness ensuring that your translation is not mere words.
looking forward to hearing from you, Kind regards.

December 4, 2012: Sex discrimination report still around

An old overpayment scam is still around, this time using the name Isaac Jones. The first message states:

Dear Translator,
Thank you for getting back to me and I'm sorry for my late response. The project is meant for my professional course in Linguistic, most importantly,
I'm also a lecturer in one of the American Universities situated in West Africa (Houdegbe North American University Republic of Benin).
I would like to know your exact rate/charge per word for the translation, so as to enable me proceed to payment arrangement as soon as we both reach a
mutual agreement.
Find the enclosed attachment of the project. The translation deadline is scheduled for 1 month starting from January 1st, 2013.
Should you have any question, do not hesitate to contact me immediately.
I await your urgent reply in due time.
Kind regards,
Isaac Jones.

The second message states:

I'm delighted you finally agree to translate the project (SEX DISCRIMINATION OR GENDER INEQUALITY) and I quite agree with your price quote for the
document to be translated, though I would like to propose a payment via money order or Bank certified check. However, If this is okay by you, kindly in
the mean time get back to me with your address in this format as listed below:
1: Full name to be written on the Check
2: Street address
3: City
4: Zip code
5: Mobile telephone number
I hope to read from you soon.
Kind regards,
Isaac Jones.

November 2012

November 28, 2012: Scams from a job posting

A new instance of an advanced payment was reported in a job posting. In this case, the name used by the scammer was Brun Philippe, and the email address used was brunp10(AT)gmail.com. The job posting has been removed, but was located at http://www.proz.com/translation-jobs/716303

If you find a job posting that could be fraudulent, please report it to site staff by submitting a support request: http://www.proz.com/support/

November 27, 2012: New scam from Gaza

A new scam from Gaza was reported as received via email and it was also briefly published in a portal for translators. The message was sent from the address malmalaleha(AT)gmail.com and it wrote.

I am “Dr .Mansour Project Manager “looking for translators to assist with an English to French translation project. Project in department of
Pharmacology to translate Prescription from English to French. This project of one Prescription between five hundred to tow thousand words.
I will pay for this job 0.08 EUR per word

November 22, 2012: A sign to watch for

We would like to report a sign to watch for in emails: the word "soonest" at the close of the messages is present in our scam alert reports of July 2, May 8, May 4, May 3, April 3 and February 26.

They also target translators, as in the following message sent by a 'Debby Stanton' from the address susyjordan1(AT)gmail.com (Susy Jordan was the name used for the graphic design scam above):

Morning,
I Am Debby Stanton and your services as a translator is needed and
i want to know if you are available.
I attach the document to this mail for you to take a look if you can
translate it also let me know how much you charge per words.
I wish you a lovely week ahead and awaits your mail soonest.

November 20, 2012

A member has reported being contacted for the translation of a brochure on sexual education for teenagers. When she replied to the offer, the outsourcer replied offered payment using a cheque. This is a case of advanced payment scam, and the sender has been blocked from ProZ.com. The name used in these messages was Teresa Lartuna , and the email address was teresalartuna@live.com

November 16, 2012: Scam messages through the instant message tool

It has been brought to our attention that a person contacting translators with fraudulent purposes using the instant message feature of ProZ.com (reached by clicking on the envelope icon on top of each ProZ.com page). The scammer has purchased ProZ.com membership and had his identity verified using the information in the purchase.
The names used in this case were William Mascetta and Chris Eames. The associated email addresses were williammascetta@yahoo.com and chris_eames@rocketmail.com. This is the message being sent out to contact service providers:

Need Japanese translator
Hello,
I'm looking for a professional/certified translator.
I need the translation of many documents / texts for my work, while only about 35K-50K words.
I am interested in your specificity: Management, Medical.
My rates is $0.17-0.25 per word also possible per-minute/hourly pay.
Payment can be made every Tuesday on PayPal/Moneybooker accounts or by bank wire.
Let me know if you are ready to take my project.
Regards,
William

Different versions of this message have been found, but only the rates offered and the languages are modified.

November 13, 2012: Scam message from Palestine, by an Angy Swan

A scam attempt was reported through the forums, being sent from email address angy.swan90@gmail.com. This was the message being sent:

dear,,
it's me angy swan .. I'm a project manager working in translation projects. I'm interested in English-German translations.. I passed through your CV and
account , so I want to deal whith you in my coming projects. this is my E-mail for contacting if you are interested in my projects ..
angy.swan90@gmail.com you can also send me your Cv to my Email if you want to give me the permission to make marketting for you and your Cv in
my coming projects with you ..
hoping to hear from you soon ..
best regards

November 8, 2012: Advanced payment scam with the name David Mark

A new instance of an advanced payment scam was reported. In this case, the name used by the scammer was David Mark, and the email address used was davidmark165@gmail.com. This was the message being sent out:.

Hello,
My Name is David Mark, I have a translation job for you. First of all i will like to know if you can do this.. It is on Breast Cancer! Are you a part
time translator or full time translator. I will attach the document for you in your reply email. I want it to be ready in 2 weeks time. The abstract :-
Trends in incidence and detection of advanced breast cancer at biennial screening mammography in The United State Of America: a population based study.
I'm doing this to fulfill my late wife promise , who died of breast cancer.
I want you to tell me the amount is going to cost me. Text me on (256) 763-0379
French-English
David

November 6, 2012: Suspicious messages being sent WITHOUT mentioning an illness

We have received reports of messages related to scams being sent through ProZ.com, from a profile (already removed) with an IP address in Palestine. This is the message being sent:

Hello,,
I am aproject manager in acompany and I have seen your profile and will be glad if you accept to work with each other in the nearly future .
I wait for your swift respond so I can give you more details and I hope to be positive .
Thank you and be blessed ,,,
Regards

What is noteworthy with these messages is that they do not mention an implausible story of health problems or include any personal details. This can be identified as a scam mainly from the lack of contact details in the message, the writing style and the IP address of the sender.

November 1, 2012: Advanced payment scam from a Nancy Grimes

An advanced payment scam was reported on the forum dedicated to scams: http://www.proz.com/topic/236020 . The name used by the scammer was Nancy Grimes, and the email address nancy.grimes1011@yahoo.com

Dear,
How are you doing today?fine i presumed.I ought to have get back to you earlier than this time,it was due to normal circumstances.
I will want you to take a look at this project,is it what you capable of doing?.I have a lot of projects at hand,this is one of it and the way you
handle it will determine if you would be choose later on for another project.
I will like to know you charges per word? and the total cost in Euros? How long will it take to finish the project? The deadline set for it December
31st. What is the country of your current residence?
I will be waiting to hear from you soon,
Regards,
Nancy Grimes

October 2012

October 30, 2012: Obesity taking the place of cancer as subject of translation in advanced payment scams

We have received several reports of advanced payment scams that approach translators with translations on childhood obesity. This is done in the same way in which scammers contacted translators with texts on cancer, as reported recently. These emails have been signed with names Hilary Snelling or Connie Valigora.

This is an example of the emails being sent:

Good morning,
Germany to English job translation - I have a translation job for you .First of all, i will like to know if you can work on this. Article documents of
5,664 words length on OBESITY IN CHILDREN! Are you a part time translator or full time translator. I will attach the documents for you on your request.
I have 9 days time line for this job. The article :- Obesity is medical condition where excess body fat accumulates to an extent that it becomes harmful
to the body. I'm doing this for Darryl, my beloved 14 yrs old son, who died of Obesity some months back. I'm hard of hearing, single warm hearted mom RN
by profession.
I will like to know the cost for the translation and proofreading. I'm located in San Antonio, TX. Feel free to text my line for any question.
Hilary Snelling
(210) 695-0819

October 25, 2012: Another advanced payment scammer claiming to have cancer

A new instance of an advanced payment was reported. In this case, the name used by the scammer was Hubert Hauser, and the email address used was hubertberyy@gmail.com. This scam was initiated from a job posting on ProZ.com titled "Human and Material Management handbook*English to French*", that has already been removed. Quotes on that job posting received this reply:

Good Morning,
Thank you for your response. Firstly, i would like you to takeyour time and check this document, if you can translate from English into French,your
total charges and delivery date.
I will be glad to hear from you soon.
Regards

If the interested service provider replied to this message, this message was sent:

Hello,
Thanks for your quick response,I am glad to have you as my freelancer translator. Am having a cancer so in any case i did not reply your
email, you should know am in hospital. I agree with your quote and delivery. Am not a translator but looking for someone to translate this handout,my
client method of payment will be check which will be mail to your address. You need not to worry as your full payment will
be send to you. Let me know if you agree so i can send you my information for invoice.
I hope we can come to terms.
Regards

Remember that offers that mention health problems (especially cancer) tend to be fraudulent. This has been proved by experience. It is likely it is used to explain erratic correspondence in the future, or to generate sympathy from translators. If you receive similar messages, please report them to site staff by submitting a support request: http://www.proz.com/support/

October 23, 2012: Advanced payment scam from an alleged widower

A new instance of an advanced payment scam was reported. In this case, the name used by the scammer was Frank Harry, and the email address used was drfrankharry@gmail.com. This was the message being sent out:

Hello,
My Name is FRANK HARRY, widower of late Wife MARY HARRY. I have a translation job for you. First of all i will like to know if you can do this.. It is
on Breast Cancer! Are you a part time translator or full time translator. I will attach the document for you in your reply email. I want it to be ready
in 2 weeks time. The abstract :- Trends in incidence and detection of advanced breast cancer at biennial screening mammography in The United State Of
America: a population based study. I'm doing this to fulfill my late wife promise , who died of breast cancer.
I want you to tell me the amount is going to cost me. I am located in Hillsdale Dr, Sterling, VA. Text me on (516) 362-6056
English-italian
FRANK

October 19, 2012: A scammer impersonating ProZ.com member Marta Marullo

It has been brought to our attention that a scammer has been contacting translators impersonating ProZ.com member Marta Marullo, by sending emails with her CV, using email address marta.trans@hotmail.com . That email address is not legitimate, and is not used by the real Marta Marullo.

October 16, 2012: Scam email including the name of a translator as a CC

It has been brought to our attention that a scammer has been contacting translators using the email address languagemet27@gmail.com. Note that the name of ProZ.com member Oscar Romagnone was included as CC in the emails, with email address romagnoneoscar@gmail.com . That is not a legitimate email address used by the translator.
In the email there was no message, just an attachment that read:

Authorization and Agreement
Can you give us permission, authorization and agreement in order for us to send your CV to our clients?
If yes, we will remove your contact details to avoid direct contacts with clients. In this case, we will use a free email which will be put inside your
CV in order to receive projects and therefore we will reply on your behalf.
We can also email your certificates if needed to clients on your behalf. We will give you the projects and in cases when you are not available, we will
give the projects to other translators.
If you agree, you will be considered as a close team member and consequently you will be eligible for any developmental plan. This is part of group work
based on mutual cooperation because the translation market is full of competition.
Please let me know so that we start work. If you agree, sign this authorization and agreement document.
Your name
Your signature

October 11, 2012: Advance payment scam as a job posting

A new instance of an advanced payment was reported. In this case, the names used by the scammer were Andrea Bettero and Mandon André, and the email address used was mandondre@gmail.com . I list two names because the name supplied in the job posting did not match the name used in the emails after
the service provider submitted a quote. This scam was initiated from a job posting on ProZ.com, and the quote a site user submitted received this reply:

Thank you for your response and sorry i write late,am sick with cancer. Please here is the text project.Check and reply with your rate and delivery date.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Regards

If you find a job posting that could be fraudulent, please report it to site staff by submitting a support request: http://www.proz.com/support/

October 9, 2012: Another message associated with the scam operation based in Palestine

A member has reported receiving this message, associated with the scam operation based in Palestine reported on http://www.proz.com/topic/230462 . This is the message being sent out:

Authorization and Agreement
Our company would like to ask for your permission giving us the authority to send your CV and cover letter to our clients. - Our policy does not allow
direct contact between the freelancer and our clients.
- Your contact details will be replaced by a free email where projects will be sent to.
- Our company will have full authority dealing with your CV by marketing it and receiving projects on your behalf.
- Any other information or certificates of you might be sent by email to our clients if needed.
- The projects we receive on your behalf will be directly sent to you.
- If not available, our team will send the project to another freelancer.
If you agree to these terms, we will instantly start working on your CV giving you the chance to have your projects delivered to you without making any
effort. This agreement makes you one of our team and consequently an active one. This would also make you a priority in any development plan in the near
future. This agreement will facilitate your work in a crowded translation market with a high level of competition.
Signing this agreement means you agree on all the above-mentioned terms.
Your name Your signature

In this case, the member received it from email address efficient.translators@gmail.com and signed with name "Tomas Anan".

October 6, 2012: Reported impersonation of a ProZ.com member

A site member has reported on http://www.proz.com/topic/234208 that her name and CV are being used to contact agencies and offering her sevices. The emails were found to be fraudulent after an agency checked the supplied contact information and found it to be inconsistent.

The email address used by this scammer is MaraFernedez@hotmail.com , but there may be others. If you have been contacted by someone impersonating María
Fernández-Palacios, please reply to this email and supply the email address being used. With that information, it will at least be possible to block them on ProZ.com.

October 2, 2012: Scammer impersonating a translation company

It has been brought to our attention that a scammer has been contacting translators impersonating Sogedicom, http://www.proz.com/blueboard/4506, using email address sogedicom.traduction41@gmail.com . I copy below the email sent by the scammer:

Hi,
I have found your details in our translator database and wanted to know if you were available for an English -> German translation project? The text
that needs translating is attached for you to review.
Would you be able to confirm how quickly you could complete the translation and what your cost per word would be?
Many thanks
Christine
SOGEDICOM
102 avenue des Champs-Elysées
75008 Paris
Tél. : 01 49 26 05 26
Fax : 01 49 26 05 28
sogedicom@wanadoo.fr
http://www.sogedicom-traduction.comhttp://www.sogedicom-conferences.comhttp://www.sogedicom-formation.com

Note that the contact information on the email corresponds with the official information for Sogedicom. Only the email address that sent the email differs.

September 2012

September 28, 2012: CATTs for sale at reasonable prices

A scam message offering “my CATTs for sale at reasonable prices” has been reported, sent using the name Basil Wolf and the email address basil.wolff@gmx.com

I'd like to quickly sell my unneeded CATTs at reasonable prices, since I am going into the travel business, and since I do not need
them anymore, I'd like to sell them to a colleague who really needs them to work with, but cannot afford the high prices:
...
... I will send any software from the list to any mail address by 1st class royal mail or by DHL courier same day I see my payment
in my bank account.
PS: If you are not interested in my offer, please, just delete the message or, before deleting it, just send it to a fellow-colleague
who might be interested in buying my CATTs. Thanks, anyway.

September 26: "Kidney transplant abroad" scam

A modified version of the “wallet lost abroad” scam has been reported, this time using the name of our colleague Deborah Marton

Hello
I am sorry to bother you with this. I am presently in Spain with my ill Cousin. She's suffering from a kidney disease and must undergo Kidney
Transplant to save her life. I am sorry for not writing or calling you before leaving, the news of her illness arrived to me as an emergency and that
she needs family support to keep her going, I hope you understand my plight and pardon me.
Kidney Transplant is very expensive here, so I want to transfer her back home to have the surgery implemented there, I was wondering if you can be of
any assistance to me, I need about $2,100 to make the necessary arrangement; I traveled with little money due to the short time I had to prepare for
this trip and never expected things to be the way it is right now. I'll surely pay you back once I get back home, I need to get her home ASAP because
she is going through a lot of pain at the moment and the doctor have advised that she has to be operated on time to avoid anything from going wrong. I
will really appreciate whatever amount you can come up with, if not all. get back to me asap.
Many thanks
Deborah Marton
Lingo 2 Lingo Translations, a division of Marton Enterprises, Inc.

Of course Ms. Marton is in no way involved in this scam.

September 25, 2012: Two masterpieces from Gaza

Two more messages from the scam factory operating in Gaza, Palestinian Territories:

The first one is sent by ali ali from the email address a.s.d.ff20(AT)hotmail.com

Hello,how are you ?
I have translation project and I want some one to help me for translastion French to English I choose you to deal with you because you are professional
translator that I know it from you C.V which I read it from your profil .

The second one was sent using the name Islam and the email address engislamata(AT)gmail.com

Dear translator,
I am an independent translator looking for English to French translator to work with me and join to my team.

September 24: Overpayment offer from Mr. Mrs Franklin Jr.

The following over-payment scam job was posted in another website using the name Mr. Mrs, Franklin Jr. and the address franklinJr@usa.com:

Attn Translator:
I am running an important translating project and I need experience and professional translators Translating Spanish, Arabic, French, German, Italian,
Hindi-Urdu and Chinese documents into English, or English into Spanish, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Hindi-Urdu and Chinese. Documents are in the
form of correspondence, technical reports, purchase orders and proposals.
15.000 words. Trados and Wordfast a plus but not mandatory...
Only looking for freelance, no agencies please.
Translators Must Be Living Within The Untied States.
You need to send me in the following format:
1. Your language pair(s)
2. Your native language
3. Email me your CV, fields of expertise, years of experience in these fields,
4. Rates per words
5. Total Amount you charge for 15,000 words General Translation
It is vital that you check your emails everyday for update information.
If and only if the above are present, email me at
franklinJr@usa.com
Mr. Mrs Franklin Jr.
1995 N. Marty Ave. Fresno CA. 93722

A member who replied to this job received a reply that included the clause:

However there will be a screening exercise base on experience, and your charges ... An upfront advanced Check payment will be made possible to you
before the job commence as a standby Part paid translator provided i am pleased with your arrangement.

Alert considerations

"It is vital that you check your emails everyday for update information" is the kind of improbable requirements that you expect to find in a scam from outside the industry

"An upfront advanced Check payment will be made possible to you before the job commence as a standby" is a big warning, especially when this condition was not requested by the translator.

The IP address locates the sender somewhere in Kansas, not in Fresno

A Google search of parts of the messages revealed a 2010 thread where a template very similar (also requesting the translation of 15,000 words) was used by "Rick Macaulay", who later sent counterfeit checks to the reporting translators.

September 20, 2012: Start up from Palestina

A new attempt by the impersonating scammers based in Gaza, Palestina, sent from a ProZ.com profile that was deleted as soon as it was identified:

Dear translator :
We are a start up company for translation and linguistic services .
We are looking for English <> French translator to translate a medical project of 7000 words .
If you find yourself eligible please , send your CV and cover letter .
My rate is 0.03$ .
Reply soon to the following e-mail : t.sam2004@gmail.com Regards,
Sam

The rate is surprisingly low. Scammers are usually more generous with the rates they promise (they don't plan to pay them anyway).

September 19, 2012: Another message from the Palestinian impersonators

A new attempt by the impersonating scammers operating from Palestina to collect information from translators, and probably also steal
from them. This time they use the name Reham and the message says:

Hello
I'm a project manager looking for {language pair} freelance translators to join my team work and become one of us.
We are doing translation for many projects about different Subjects and fields. We are caring for our members and trying to make
them satisfied with their work.
If you are interested to join us please send your CV to the following e-mail and we will contact you soon.
E-mail: rere1232005@gmail.com
All regards
Reham

September 17, 2012: Scammers once more impersonating Transperfect

On August 10 we reported scammers impersonating the company Transperfect to steal translations. They have been reported again, this time using the name Matthew Orr and the email address transpmorr@gmail.com

Hello,
Hope you're doing well !!
I have 2 new jobs EN-FR Informations
Project Code: tpt421983 / tpt421984
Language pair:Englis to French
Deadline: September 21 (Can be extend to September 23 max, if you choose to handle both files)
Rate: $0.12/word
Word Count:7300 /8515
I'm attaching the files for you to have a look and choose which one you would like to handle, or maybe both. Please if you are available reply to this
email, you will soon receive your order form (purchase order). Thank you for your cooperation.
Regards,
Mattew Orr.
Project Coordinator
TransPerfect
Three Park Ave. 39th Floor New York, NY 10016
t +1 213.689.5555 x1139 | f +1 212.689.1059
www.transperfect.com
TransPerfect is ISO 9001:2008 and EN 15038:2006 certified."

In spite of all the references, the senders of this message are in no way related to Transperfect and you can expect to lose track of them once you sent the translation.

September 13, 2012: Scammers from Palestina ask for test translations

Subject: Collabration for Translation - English to Spanish - Sample File
Hello dear,
I hope you are fine.
If you didn't do any tests before please do this one if you can.
Please find attached sample files for translation (min.200-250 words to be translated per file).
Please rename the file as - "sample_your name_language.doc" when you return the same to us.
Note: It is a test file and is not chargeable.
Deliverables: Clean+ unclean + TM. (if CAT tool utilised)
Deadline: 31st August 2012 EOD
Kindly assure us that the sample is done by you.
Please confirm receipt.
Thanking you in advance for your attention in this regard.
Note: Please do not change the subject of the email

The mail arrives without any company logo, address, telephone number, web page and no contact person/department. There is a company name but it showed no traces in Google or in the Blue Board.

These scammers operate by impersonating clients and service providers, and they use several strategies for "harvesting" information on both.

September 12, 2012: More scam messages from Palestina

Several members reported receiving the following message from scammers using a now deleted ProZ.com profile:

Email subject: Translation
Authorization and agreement: Can you give us permission, authorization and agreement in order for us to send your CV to our clients? If yes, we will
remove your contact details to avoid direct contacts with clients. In this case, we will use a free email which will be put inside your CV in order to
receive projects and therefore we will reply on your behalf. We can also email your certificates if needed to clients on your behalf. We will give you
the projects and in cases when you are not available, we will give the projects to other translators. If you agree, you will be considered as a close
team member and consequently you will be eligible for any developmental plan. This is part of group work based on mutual cooperation because the
translation market is full of competition. Please let me know so that we start work. If you agree, sign this authorization and agreement document.
Your name
Your signature

September 7, 2012: Another in-memoriam scam

A new "in memoriam" overpayment scam was reported. This time the name used is Malcom and the email address is malcjohnson1224@gmail.com:

Hello,my name is malcom,i have a job for you.i just want to know if you can do this.its on sex education Are you a part time translator or full time translator?"

After confirming the price they sent the following message:

Thanks for your quick response and the price is okay for me.This project am just starting its initiative of my my late wife Kim Cole so i want to
fulfill her wish to safe lives of teenage.However,i want you to Translate it and send it back to be through email also i do seek fund to support this
cause,so the payment will be through check.Awaits your response soon.
Regards,
Malcom, Gooch Street, Birmingham, West Midlands B5 7HY, UK. "

The text to translate was the same as in the scam attempt reported on September 5.

An overpayment scam has been reported using the name "Linda Cooper" and the email address cooperlinda47@gmail.com

How are you doing today ? I got your contact information from {website}.I work with US health advisors,i have a write up to be translated from
{language pair},the write up is for a seminar i will be going for in {country} by 10th of Sept,it will be printed out and distributed among the
audience. My target audience are adult and teenagers. Please let me know if you will be available to do the translation work for me. I await your quick
response to this email.
Linda Cooper, US Health Advisors, 2607 N. Cooper Street, Arlington TX 76006

The second message said:

I want you to go through it and give me a price quote,i will be making payment via check because i'm presently on a trip to United kingdom and won't be
back before 10th of september. Please get back to me with your price quote as soon as possible so that i can instruct my financier to make out your
payment to you when we aggree on the price. I will be waiting to hear from you soon.

The third message reported:

I just got a message from my financier now that the payment you will receiving is more than amount for the translation. He was suppose to issue out
another payment for my travel agent for ticket for my trip back to the state and Spain,so he thought that was the payment i asked him to issue. I am
very sorry about this and i beleive i can trust you also. As soon as you receive the check,you are to have it deposited at your bank,when you have the
funds available,deduct your payment for the translation and help me wire the rest of the money to my travel agent via Money Gram so that he can make
the ticket booking for me as soon as possible,you are to deduct the Money gram charges from the Money you are sending too. I am very sorry for the mix-
up and any incoviniency this may cost you. Thank you for your understanding and God bless you.

Of course the check is false and you will lose any money you send back (and you will face questioning about the bad check you deposited in the bank).

September 5, 2012: message from a deceased overpayment scammer

A member received the following message from Theresa Hartman, email tessylendingawwo@hotmail.com

Hi, I need you to translate an abstract :- Trends in incidence and detection of advanced breast cancer at biennial screening mammography in The United
State Of America: a population based study. Translate from English to Danish, it has total of 2388 words. Let me know what your charges are per word.
I'm located in Des Moines, Iowa! You can always text me on my line.. (515) 423-0813
Best Regards. Theresa

The next message included the following:

I am working with an NGO's on this project! I will attach the abstract documents to you, however,i want you to proofread it and send it back to me
through email. I want it to be ready in A week time. This project am just starting its initiative of my late wife Theresa Hartman, who died of breast
cancer some 2 yrs ago, so i want to fulfill her wish! I'm doing this to fulfill the promise i make to my late wife , who died of breast cancer. I just
started an NGO which we got fund support from many individuals and companies. I want you to get back to me with your full contact details such as:-
name, address, city, state, zip code, home&cell phone #, as i do seek fund to support this cause, payment will be through check, which will be issue
and mail to you by the individual who is supporting this project. Richard T. Hartman (515) 423-0813

Please note that Theresa wrote the first message but she was dead for two years when Richard sent the second one.

Richard created a NGO but he did not think about providing the NGO's name in his correspondence.

A call was placed to the phone number provided, and it was picked by someone who did not know Richard T. Hartman

The IP address in the messages corresponds to Scranton, Pennsylvania, far away from Iowa

And a classic of most overpayment scams: payment will be done by a check issued by a person different from the one contacting you.

An old scam has been recently reported as still active: scammers (apparently located in China) are impersonating the legitimate company Stijloffensief
using the false email addresses arnoud.altingvangeusau@gmail.com and stijloffensief@gmail.com in order to get translations that will not be paid to the service providers.

A warning has been posted in the corresponding Blue Board page, and the company displays the following information in their web page:

Recently, many attempts have been made by parties unknown to our company to use Stijloffensief's company information to scam translators into working
for them. We recommend all translators to check the authenticity of any assignment from Stijloffensief by contacting us via this website, the
info@stijloffensief.nl email address and/or by telephone. We do not use free webmail services (such as gmail) for business purposes. Also take into
account that Stijloffensief only translates from and into English, German, French and Dutch. We do not provide services for any other language pairs.

September 3, 2012: Overpayment scam by "Andrew Miller"

Scam job offers are being sent using the name "Andrew Miller" and the email address millerand45@gmail.com

Subject: Hungarian Translation Needed !!!
Greetings,
I need your service to translate this attached documents to Hungarian.Let me know your rate and charges..looking forward to hear back
from you soon.
Thanks
Andrew”

This example is for Hungarian, but it has been reported for several target languages, and apparently they are sweeping the list of languages in alphabetical order. The file provided for translation belongs to a conference that will allegedly take place later this year, but it actually took place in 2004.

A colleague replied and got the following message:

Am very much happy to read back from you and okay with the charges for the pages in which am sure it will be well prepared,easy and
well understood by the reader.Can this be done by 20th of October?
Moreover,Kindly get back to me with information below:
1: Your Full Name to be on the payment
2: Your Address and zip code
3: Your cell phone number
So i can instruct my financial secretary to issue out the full payment as soon as possible for the service.Do note that you will not
release the translation to me not until have the payment with you.
I will need your immediate response via email assuring me that i can trust you to handle this with care

Telltale signs are as usual the lack of any contact information on the "outsourcer" and a check payment that will be issued by a third party. Next you will receive a fake check for an amount way over what you asked, and you will be requested to wire back the difference.

August 2012

August 28,2012: 'Presentation abroad' scam by Steven Anteen

The 'presentation abroad' overpayment scam, where the scammer asks for some documents to be translated " so each of my audience can have a copy" has been reported again, this time using the name Steven Anteen and the address mrsadams@vasking.org.

I'm Steven Anteen from Atlanta,Georgia and i'll be leaving for europe on a business trip tomorrow morning.I'll be making a presentation to some groups
of Spanish speaking people in Madrid,Spain on the 29th of October,2012.However,i will need you to help me translate some documents from English to
Spanish,so each of my audience can have a copy in their local language and they can follow through.The deadline for the delivery of translations is
October 25,2012.Please,let me have an estimate for the documents(see attached).I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
Kind Regards,
Steven 678-701-9193"

August 27, 2012: Overpayment scam by 'Albert Nicolas'

Overpayment-scam job offers are being sent out by 'private investor' using the name 'Albert Nicolas' and the email address inpactter@live.com. Like in the scam reported on August 22, the scammer claims to be ill with cancer. They wrote:

Hello,
Thanks for your response.Sorry i reply late,am sick and out of town. I have checked your quote and i am pleased to tell you that i choose you to work
on the project for we are in between a new business.I am a Private investor who work with local and few foreign business on short time business. 50%
Part payment will be issued by check out with balance afte completion of the text
Here is my Address for invoice
Albert Nicolas
1 imp Hirondelles
22560 PLEUMEUR BODOU
Let me have your information for payment.

Then another message announced the excess payment "made in error" by the scammers' client and asked for the excess payment to be wired back. And then another message:

How are you doing and thank you for your understanding.I reply you late due to my traveling down for surgery,please pray for me. My client Manka, is a
Swedish but lived most of his live in Germany, we have been working together for 3years now.I will be in this Hospital for 2weeks and hope to get
better after the surgery,i will never pray for anyone to have anything to do with Cancer. Please, try and deposit the payment today in your account.
Sign twice on each lines and write date. I will let you know how to send the excess. Let me know after you have deposited it,even if i cant email back
at that moment,i will later today. Thank you and have a great day. Regards

August 22, 2012: Overpayment scam by Fred Dinse

Fraudsters are sending overpayment-scam job offers using the name Fred Dinse and the email address freddinseputter@gmail.com

The 'client' wrote that he had cancer and he needed a translation, and offered to pay 50% of the work upfront and 50% later. Then he wrote:

How are you doing today? am feeling better today.I just got an email from my client saying the payment had been sent.I email him your
information,telling him to send your down payment.But there was a mistake as my client purchase a check payment of euro 3000 of all the money he owe me
on your name which include my medical and traveling agent fees to you.I don't think there is anything to worry about for the trust i have in you, you
will keep your full payment for the translation and send the excess funds to my agent.Please watch out for the payment and let me know when you receive it.
Thanks for your understanding and i hope to hear from you soon.

Overpayment scams usually involve a 'client' asking for a translation that will be paid by a check sent by a third party, and an explanation for this
strange payment (out of country, ill at a hospital, etc.). Of course in all cases the check you get is false, and victims will lose any money sent as "excess funds".

August 16, 2012: Scammers impersonating Knockhundred Translations Ltd

Scammers are impersonating the legitimate agency Knockhundred Translations Ltd using the legitimate name Glyn Evans but a fake email address knochundred.translations@gmail.com to steal translations from service providers. The agency has been contacted by two freelancers so far who have been scammed - one for a substantial amount of money. Scammers are signing signing off their correspondence with the following:

Once again, when a corporation contacts you using a free email address you should at least confirm the contact independently through the company's web age.

By the way, the Blue Board page provided corresponds to a previous impersonation of a different company, done probably by the same scammers, and since March
15 it has a scam-warning message. Now a similar message has been added to Knockhundred Translations Ltd's Blue Board page.

August 15, 2012: Cheap software offered by 'Translation Mania'

A colleague received the following offer to buy heavily discounted software from 'Translation Mania':

Dear Linguist,
Hope you are doing well and getting lot of projects.
We have bought some licence for our linguist on discounted rates, and now we have two of them left. Below is the detail about the product:
Trados Version - SDL Trados Studio 2011 Freelance Plus SP2 (Can be used on 2 PCs simultaneously)
Price - We are giving it for $475 and the Market price is $1030 even on Proz you will not get it below $550.
If you are interested to buy one, then, please contact us.
Best Regards,
Jatorpha
Manager - Operations
Translation Mania
Elite House, Comunity Centre, Kailash Colony Extn.
New Delhi - 110048, India
W: www.translationmania.com
E: info@translationmania.com"

This is almost certainly a scam where any money sent will be lost. Some alert flags:

The translator is addressed as "dear linguist" and she does not know the agency, and yet the offer is addressed "for our linguist"

The 'about us' section of http://www.translationmania.com/ states "TRANSLATIN MANIA is one of the professional full-service communication consulting and management companies." The morphing of 'Translation Mania' into 'Translatin Mania' is not precisely a confidence-builder.

August 14, 2012: David, just another overpayment scammer

David wrote from the email address davvjh@gmail.com the following offer:

Hello,
My name is David and I got your email from the website about you being a translator.
I want you to assist translate an article from (English--Polish).I need it for a presentation and would love a professional work which I believe you can offer.
I would like to know your terms and how much it would cost for the article?
Hope to hear from you as soon as possible. Regards.
David.
801-874-1648

The second email stated:

Thank you for the timely response.It is ok for you to send me a purchase order so we can have an agreement but I would like to propose me sending you a
check.Presently,I am at a seminar and I will have my Assistant send you a check for payment purpose. I hope you will understand and I believe you can
do a good job.Once we have an agreement I would need an address to have the check sent to.
I hope to hear from you soon."

Again we find the classic elements of an overpayment scam: payment by check that will be sent by a different person, while an unusual reason is given for this (presently at a seminar).

The scam was reported by a victim who found out about this impersonation after delivering the requested translation. Before accepting the job, the victim took the precautions to check that the Sylvie actually existed in the member list of the Syndicat Français des Traducteurs professionnels, and even got a PO signed by the 'client'.

Unfortunately the victim failed to notice that the email address used to contact her was different from the two addresses available in the member list indicated above. She could also have called to the phone number indicated in the list.

Remember that the first rule of risk management when contacted by an unknown agent is to get verifiable contact information AND to verify this information
until being confident that the persons contacting you are who they say they are, and that they represent the organizations they say they represent.

A signed PO is useful in case you get into a conflict with a legitimate outsourcer, but it provides only an illusion of safety when you deal with a scammer (who will have no problems making-up a signature that you have no way of validating).

August 10, 2012: Scammers impersonating TransPerfect

A scammer is impersonating the agency Transperfect from the email address transpearlleo@gmail.com. The scammer signs as 'Pearl Leo, Executive Project
Manager, Legal Red - Weekend Shift' and the message reads:

Hello,
I really hope you can help me with this one.
I need a translator who work with SDL TRADOS.
Translation EN>FR(fr)
Word count -> 13000
Rate -> 0.13$/word (all new words)
Deadline -> Friday 11 at 8pm (London Time)
File can be split if necessary.
I need your answer ASAP!!
Please contact me to transpearlleo@gmail.com and claim your PO.
Regards

As usual, be specially careful when a corporation reaches you using an email address with a dominion different from the one in the "contact us" section
of their web page (in this case @transperfect.com).

August 9, 2012: Overpayment scam by Margaret Jordan

An overpayment scam has been reported using the name Margaret Jordan and the email address margaretjordan318@gmail.com. The first message has the
style of an overpayment scam but nothing very conclusive:

Hello,
My name is Margaret Jordan,i work with an NGO supported by world health organization to enlighten people about STDS,HIV and AIDS. I will be giving a
public lecture in Russia by 28th of this month and i have a health write up to be translated from English to Russian,my target audience are university
students. I got your contact email from Translators cafe and i will like to know if you will be avaible to do the translation job for me. Let me know
if you are available so that i can forward the document to you for a price quote.
Waiting to hear from you soon.
God bless you !

The second message clear all doubts:

Thanks for getting back to me. The attached documents is for the public lecture i will be going for in Russia by 28th of this month. The documents will
be printed and distributed to participants at the lecture after being translated. So, take a look at document and get back to me with a price quote and
also need to know the time you will be able to finish it. I will be making payment through a cashiers check because i'm presently out of state and
won't be back before that time. My Husband will make out the payment to you as soon as we agree on the price.I will be waiting for your price quote as
soon as possible.
Margaret Jordan.

So we have three classic elements of an overpayment scam:
a) payment will be by check
b) check will be sent by a different person
c) an unusual reason is given for the above (out of country, sick in hospital, etc.)

August 8, 2012: Large scam operation based in Gaza

A large scale scam operation based in Gaza, Palestina, has been uncovered and all related profiles have been deleted from ProZ.com. The scammers operate
as described in this article: they steal CVs from real translators and edit them with a different email address, usually in the form of
{translator's_name}(at){free_email_service_provider}, and use them to quote on jobs posted at translation portals and freelancing websites.

Outsourcers receive messages such as:

Hello,
I am a highly qualified freelance translator who is committed to the highest standards in the profession. I provide a friendly, reliable and
trustworthy translation and proofreading services.
{here they would copy real translators' CV information}
I will be pleased to assist you on your current assignment.
Hoping to hear from you soon.
Best regards,
{real translator's name}
{real translator's credentials}"

In some cases a machine translation is provided and the oursourcer is threatened with discredit if they do not pay. In other cases the job is outsourced in the name of the real outsourcers to real translators who are not paid (and who will blame the real outsourcer for this).

Freelancers should confirm assignments received from companies through emails with a dominion different from the one in the 'contact us' section of the company's webpage, and should always use pdf format for their CVs (so they are not editable).

Outsourcers should confirm the identity of translators who offer their services, for instance by sending an email through their ProZ.com profiles, and check their identity verification profile status.

August 7: Two sick scammers posting fake jobs at ProZ.com

Overpayment scams were posted as two ProZ.com jobs by non-logged-in visitors:

"Needs a Goog Translator" was posted using the name Marco Zatta and the email address zatta.77@gmail.com. A colleague replied and got the following message:

My name is Marco,how are you doing and thank you for your interest.Sorry i reply late,i am sick.I have 8,900words from French into German.I have
attached the text document.Let me know your total charges and confirm if you can deliver in 2weeks and your quote.
I hope to hear from you soon for more information.
Regards

Later, she was informed that 'an associate to the client' had sent her six checks for a total of 3000 €, asking her to wire back the excess payment (2000 €). Our colleague did not wire any money back but she lost a week of work.

A "French to Italian translation text", 8900 French to Italian translation request was posted using the name Louis Marie-Thérèse and the email address
justlouis53@gmail.com. A member who contacted the scammers got the classic "private investor" response:

Thanks for your response.Sorry i reply late,am sick and out of town. I have checked your quote and i am pleased to tell you that i choose you to work
on the project for we are in between a new business.I am a Private investor who work with local and few foreign business on short time business. 50%
Part payment will be issued by check out with balance afte completion of the text

ProZ.com verifies the information in posted jobs but this is not enough to ensure a scam-free operation and a small amount of scams can go through the net.
Translators should always do their risk management, see this FAQ. Jobs posted by not-logged-in visitors or very new profiles, and asking for a reply via email
are more risky than jobs posted by "old" profiles and to be replied by means of the jobs interface.

August 3, 2012: "Stranded at the airport" scam

In a new variant of the “Wallet lost abroad” scam, the scammer is now stranded in an airport.

A Saudi client hired an interpreter for a business visit to Frankfurt and on the day of his planned arrival he called the interpreter
to report that he was still at the USA airport, where he and his wife were prevented from boarding their plane because of the strict
searches at the airport.

The 'client' needed now to buy new tickets but the credit cards were in a bag that was dispatched to the destination, and the
interpreter was asked to wire this money, allegedly to be reimbursed upon arrival of the client.

Fortunately our colleague realized that luggage is never allowed to leave the airport without the passenger. A few calls confirmed
that this was a scam that apparently is targeting Islamic communities, associations and mosques.

August 1, 2012: Same scam offer used for over 5 years

A member receive the following offer from Caldwell Taylor, email caldwell12taylor@gmail.com:

With reference to your registration on aiic.net. Your service is hereby needed as an interpreter in your country (France). Our students with two of our
management staff are coming to your country for a research work on Media development, they speak much of Spannish than English, due to difficulty in
language barrier, your service will be needed for a period of 4 hours for 12 working days. The research will run between 28th September to 9th October,
2012, so we shall be glad to have your availability and your service charge as well.
Please your prompt response will be highly appreciated.

A quick search on the Web reveals the following offer sent by a Larry (last name unknown) on May 2007:

With reference to your registration on translationzone.com. Your service is hereby needed as a translator/interpreter in the France. Our students with two of our
management staff are coming to Trilport, France, for a research work on Media development, they speak much of Spannish than English, due to difficulty in
language barrier, your service will be needed for a period of 4 hours for 12 working days. We shall be glad to have your service charge as well as your availability.
Please your prompt response will be highly appreciated.

Over 5 years later the same text is still around... These people really believe in recycling!

July 2012

July 31: Scammers impersonating Michaela Sommer to steal translations

Scammers are impersonating ProZ.com member Michaela Sommer to steal translations. They send job offers signing as Michaela but using the email address michaela.sommer63(at)yahoo.com (of course this is not Michaela's real email address). The message sent is:

Hello {name of the victim},
I hope you are well.
I am a freelance translator working from English to German.
Your translation background, which I found on the web, is interesting.
I have a set of documents (around 2,000 words, general terminology, no special knowledge is required) which need to be translated from English to
Italian by July 16th, end of the day.
My payment terms are 30 days from invoice date.
Would you be interested in this project?
Kind regards,

The scam was discovered when two of the victims contacted Michaela through ProZ.com, one to ask for a WWA entry, the other asking for invoicing information. When you are contacted via email by a ProZ.com user, it is a good idea to visit the profile and ask for confirmation of the request using the "send email" feature.

July 27, 2012: Clarence Hanselman asks for your language pair

Fascinating overpayment scam attempt where the scammer opens the message by naively asking "What language do you translate to?". Name used is Clarence Hanselman with email address chtranslationworld@msn.com

Hello,
What language do you translate to? Your service is urgently needed for a translation of an article (Conflict Management) written in English. The
document has about 11,782 words and the translated document will be needed on or before 28th of August, 2012. Moreso, i will like you to get back to me
with your full price quote for the whole document after you might have gone through the attached document.
My Suitable Method of payment: Payment will be made twice for the security of both parties, you will have the 60% advance payment Via a Bank Check
issued by a French Bank as a down payment the moment you confirm the assignment accepted by you and have the remaining 40% on delivery of the
translation. I will like to confirm your availability for this project and if the price suites, we can talk about the term and conditions that
surrounds your service.
Attached within email is the document that would be translated.
I await your mail as soon as possible for the commencement of the project.
Best Regard.

The old "project book of mine" scam is still around. Recent sender information includes Sharon {sharonzub@gmail.com} and Rebecca Zak{rebzak01@aol.com}. The contact message is:

Hello,
I want you to help me translate a project book of mine please contact me via this my personal email sharonzub@gmail.com for more
information and the document.Hope to hear from you soon. Apply with your cv
Thanks,"

Another overpayment scam is being widely published by 'Austin Ward ,A Hiring manager (HM) With Realty Executives' with the message:

Subject: English Translator Needed
I am Austin Ward A Hiring manager (HM) With Realty Executives. I looking for translators who can translate from English to other
languages {Reply Back with what you're Good at} to work with on a project, approximately 15,000 words {fields of expertise...
Technical, legal, commercial, medical. Poetry & Literature}. Trados or Wordfast should be fine... If interested, please include
in your reply your {PRICE per source word in $$} Also ready for a long time partnership And be available to read your email at least
twice a day for urgent updates about the Project... This offer is open to translators based in the United States Only. Write me at
hiringmanager AT realtyagent DOT com if interested.”

Please note how 'Realty Executives' migrates into 'realtyagent'. Even tough they added some translation lingo, this is a 'client'
who does not know (or care) about the language pair(s) you work in. Also, the request to be "available to read your email at least
twice a day” is a classic among scammers. In a follow-up email they will offer you an advance payment.

In an overpayment scam you will receive a fake check for an amount much higher than agreed, and then you will be asked to wire back
(and lose) the difference.

July 24, 2012: Scammer 'David Lang' impersonating Rosetta Translation

A colleague received the following job offer from 'David Lang', email address davidlang75@hotmail.fr and allegedly from Rosetta Translation:

I got a new job available that i hope you can help with, please take a look below
EN-FRFR - Word Count: 1831 - Rate:0.08€
Job instructions:
Please work into the Word File
Please keep same format, do not change anything regarding text colors, size...
TRANS DEADLINE: SUN 24/7 8pm GMT+1 (Paris Time Zone)
I need you answer ASAP!!
As soon that you confirm that you can handle it, I'll send you the PO.
Thank you for your understanding,
David Lang.
Project Manager
MKTG/SEO/SEM/Translation Services
Web: http://www.rosettatranslation.com
Tel: +44 207 353 8902"

In this case our colleague did the right thing: he visited the Rosetta Translation web page, and wrote to the contact address found there:

Dear Rosetta Translation,
I just received this project offer from one of your representatives David Lang. Can you please confirm that he actually works for your company?

The answer was:

Many thanks for your email. Please note that David Lang is not a representative of Rosetta Translation and his email requested should be ignored as spam.

This is a good example of how the first rule of risk management for freelance translators (get verifiable contact information and verify it) can protect you from a scammer.

July 23,2012: Scam job offers sent by 'Henry Beauperin'

Many job offers were sent from a ProZ.com profile on the name of 'Henry Beauperin', email henrybeauperin@gmail.com, with the following text:

Good Afternoon,
I require the services of an interpreter/Translator for a job i will be coordinating in {country} from July till the end of this year. The job would be
once a week. We would reach an agreement on choosing the day of the week that suits both parties.
Please send me an email if you may be interested in this job and i will send you more information.
The job is Valuation related."

The country was matched in each case to the country of residence for the recipients (in all cases in small letter). Reported countries included France, Germany, Switzerland, Cyprus, Croatia, Georgia and Iceland).

A later report confirmed that this was a Western Union scam attempt.

We have a valuation project which involves me communicating with someone who understands English in Europe.
We are to evaluate the services of the Western Union

The corresponding profile has been blocked and labeled as scam to warn translators who may have received the offer and who could miss this alert.

July 19, 2012: "Pay to get work" schemes

Translators: take care when responding to offers for work which require pre-payment or which sound "too good to be true"

As you may already know, you should excersise extreme caution when considering responding to offers of "translation jobs" which require you to pay in order see the jobs, or offers of translation jobs which sound too good to be true. One entity in particular is currently "advertising" this kind of offer heavily, via email, social networks, and other means, and this has been brought to the site team's attention. In many cases, there may not be any real translation jobs behind the offers, though you are required to pay for access to this information beforehand.

Some possible warning signs that can be seen in the email versions of these offers:

The sender's address may be a freemail address (gmail, hotmail, etc.), and the sender may not match the person signing the email. (e.g. the email sender is "John" but the person signing the email is "Mary").

Language of the type: "If you speak English and any other language, you can start making money right away!", "No previous experience is needed", translate for cash", etc.

Any URLs included in the email may be "masked"; that is, they may be covering up the real site you will be taken to. Sometimes this is done for tracking purposes, or to hide who is making the offer. Ideally, these links should match the domain of the email sending them, or match the entity purporting to be sending the offer. Be wary of links which do not "match up".

Web pages with no verifiable contact information.

July 18, 2012: new instances of the 'private investor' scammers

The 'private investor' scammers are very active again. Their opening message is:

Hello, As am browsing through the profiles on {translators site, several reported} I came across your profile,I kindly want you to translate one of my
book that I need to translate ,am a private investor. If you are interested in translating for me kindly let me know the language you can handle from
English, kindly contact me back immediately you received my message for more information about the project.

A representative from Migal Translations www.migaltranslations.com has reported that scammers using the name Jessica Storm and the email address jessica.storm@netcourrier.com are impersonating this company to post fraudulent translation jobs. False purchase orders with Migal Translations' logo and company name were sent to the translators, and the scam was discovered when the service providers contacted the legitimate outsourcer asking for the payments of jobs that Migal Translations had not requested.

Alarms should be activated each time somebody claims to represent an outsourcing company from an email address that does not belong to the company. For more information on scammers who steal translations by impersonating real players, see the ProZ.com article on Scammers who steal translations

July 12, 2012: Scammer impersonating Crystal Samples

A scam has been reported by a colleague that delivered USD 1550 worth of unpaid translations to a scammer who impersonated member Crystal Samples by using the (false) email address crystalsamplese(at)gmail.com. The reporter received a call from the scammer's number 35699465492 (from Malta). A warning has been posted in the corresponding Blue Board page.

Impersonating scams are frequently reported and they are harder to detect because these are scammers who know about the language industry and who can effectively impersonate legitimate translators and outsourcers. Learn more about this scourge and related risk management practices at the article 'Scammers who steal translations' published at http://www.proz.com/doc/3613

July 10, 2012: Overpayment scammer ‘Lori S Deb. Kelly’

An overpayment scam job was reported as published in Translators Cafe using the name ‘Lori S Deb. Kelly’ and the email address sdeborah0914@gmail.com

When asked to provide complete address and phone number, the scammer replied:

Hello and thanks for the reply, i do hope that we can work this out together, a little explanation about myself, My full name is
Deborah Serena , living in the United Kingdom and travels alots, married and have 2 kids. I do get contract business from people that
need to translate documents so i am like a middle men in this business and i have been successful with it. I have attached the file as
document. Do let me know your total cost for this assignment. My mode of payment is by a Check, is that okay and acceptable by you? I
hope so. And the payment would be made from my customer that need this assignment, my payment would be made together with yours for
easy and conviniency for my customer. You do not need to start this work yet, you will wait until you have the check and cashed, then
you can resume work and send to me as i want trust and a mutual and good understanding between us. But i would need your help and
assistance, as you already know that both payments would be received by you, after you have the cash at hand, you will need to send me
the excess amount on it as my part of fees for this business. I hope you will be able to do this and i hope this is okay by you. Ok I
will provide my details for you to send me an invoice so i can make an arrangement for the payment by Check. “

Please note that this long replay contains personal information aimed to creating empathy “travels alots, married and have 2 kids” but no real contact information. Also the offer of full advance payment will create a sense of false safety in trusting freelancers who do not fear that a check can be forged. The quality and style of the text is also what you would expect from your average overpayment scammer.

What is original in this case is for the scammer to state up-front that you will be overpaid and asked to send back the difference. Normally they report an accidental overpayment. They may be learning new tricks.

July 9, 2012: Scam impersonating Charles Azzopardi

A scam was reported by a colleague who delivered a translation to a scammer impersonating ProZ.com member Charles Azzopardi using
the email address charlesu92@gmail.com and, after delivery, lost all contact with the 'client'. The issue was discovered when the translator tried to post a Blue Board warning on Charles Azzopardi and he reported back that he has never contacted the translator at all.

Impersonating scams are frequently reported and they are harder to detect because these are scammers who know about the language industry and who can effectively impersonate legitimate translators and outsourcers. Learn more about this scourge and related risk management practices at the article 'Scammers who steal translations' published at http://www.proz.com/doc/3613

July 6, 2012: Article on 'Scammers who steal translations'

The first article of a planned ProZ.com series on Risk Management has been published on the subject of 'Scammers who steal translations'.
This article presents some typical scam mechanisms aimed to stealing translations plus some related risk management advise.
These scammers are the most difficult to identify because they know the industry and they can effectively impersonate legitimate
outsourcers and translators.

There are many reports of this kind of scam. Please read this note and, if possible, let other colleagues know about it. Raising
awareness on these issues is our first line of defense as a community.

July 3, 2012: Overpayment scam from "Mario Bortolo"

An overpayment scam has been reported using the name "Mario Bortolo" and the email address mario.bortolo@yahoo.com. IP address locates the scammer in Palermo, Italy.

Job was a French to English translation and "Mario Bortolo" agreed to a quote of USD800. After that, he offered an unrequested 50% advance payment. Translator requested payment through Paypal or Moneybookers but "Mario" said he could pay only by check.

Then Mario informed that his client sent the translator a check for $3000 and that she should keep the full amount for the translation (not just 50%) and he would instruct her on how to return the rest.

Fortunately the translator refused and "only" lost some time. The translator did well in avoid the scam but asking for verifiable contact information at the start of the relationship (and verifying them) is a much stronger policy than good instincts.

July 2, 2012: Scam job offer from 'Adam Johnson from Adams Farms'

An overpayment scam has been reported by two colleagues who received job offers sent by 'Adam Johnson from Adams Farms', email address adam.farms@aol.com

Adam Farms is presented as an organic cocoa bean farming and growing company, and it is very likely that they are a legitimate business whose name and contact data are being used by the scammers to create confidence in their victims.

The first contact is a message that does not even include the name of the recipient:

Subject: Web Designer Needed"
Morning,
How are you doing and am Adam Johnson.I need a competent and and reliable web designer so get back to me if you are available to take job now,awaits
your mail soonest.
Regards.
Adam Johnson.

When the translators asked for payment via Paypal the answer they got was:

Here is the content below and i would have make the payment through Paypal but i gave this job to a woman who requested that i should make the payment
through Paypal but after my client make the payment she disappear for good and i never hear from her till today so now the payment will be through
cheque so send me your name and address with phone number where the payment will be mail to also i will like you to surprise with a good job then i can
introduce you to my other friends and client also how many days will it tntenetake you to finish with the website.

One of the colleagues received a check for an excessive amount and was asked to return the excess. The other abandoned the deal before that point.

Again the impersonal message, the very unprofessional language and the insistence of paying with checks should serve as early scam warnings.

June 2012

June 27,2012: Overpayment scam by 'Prof. Antonio Miccoli'

An overpayment scam in the form of a job offer was posted at ProZ.com from a (now deleted) profile as "12,450 Medical Translation (English to German)".
The scam was posted using the name 'Prof. Antonio Miccoli' and the email address 'miccoliprof.tonio@gmail.com'. Please note that this name may correspond
to a normal person fully unaware of the scam.

A translator who answer to this request received the following message:

My name is Miccoli,how are you doing and thak you for your interest.I have 12450words from English into German.I have attached the text document.Let me
know your total charges and confirm if you can deliver in 3weeks. I hope to hear from you soon for more information.

The translator send a quote and asked for contact information and received:

Thanks for your quick response,I am glad to have you as my freelancer translator.The second text will be ready by weekend. I have agree with your total
amount of 1245 Euro.I can only offer 50 percent down payment with balance upon completion of this project.
I'm looking forward hearing from you.

Thank you for your email..Please note that i will be paying with a Check.
Please provide your Information to issue out payment which include your Name and Address.

The translator had not requested an advance payment. An investigation of IP addresses revealed that these messages, typical of overpayment scammers, were not sent from Italy (as claimed).

June 25, 2012: The "student scammer" is now grand harley

Another instance of the student scam has been reported, this time using the name grand harley and the email address grandharley(at)yahoo.com.
The texts are the same already reported on June 4:

Am in need of your translation service; English to Ukrainian.Get back to me as soon as possible"

And then:

Thanks for getting back to me. My name is Grand Harley ; a University student, I want you to translate this documents for me. The source language is
English and the target language is Ukrainian. The documents are attached for you to review and perhaps get back to me with an estimation [price]. The
deadline is 3 weeks, is that possible? Payment will be made through Certified Cashier Check. Let me know how it goes and please reply to this email for
any other question."

June 21, 2012: 'Our hiring process' fake job offer

This classic scam keeps being reported, with a text basically unchanged:

I would like to take this time to welcome you to our hiring process and give you a brief synopsis of the position’s benefits and requirements.
If you are taking a career break, are on a maternity leave, recently retired or simply looking for some part-time job, this position is for you.
Occupation: Flexible schedule 1 to 3 hours per day. We can guarantee a minimum 20 hrs/week occupation
Salary: Starting salary is 3000 EUR per month plus commission.
Region: {variable}
Please note that there are no startup fees or deposits to start working for us.
To request an application form, schedule your interview and receive more information about this position please reply to {email address},with your
personal identification number for this position IDNO: {4 digits number}

Email addresses have the structure {name}(at)dominion, where {name} can be any first name and the reported dominions include 'europacareer.com', 'europa-career.com', 'eureseuropa.com', 'europnewcareer.com', 'jobdayseu.com', 'mc-jobs.com', 'newusawork.com', 'jobsearchusaorg.com', 'newengwork.com',
'employmenteu.com' and 'newengwork.com'.

No serious company will ever send out random emails offering large salaries and commission if they don’t even know who you are. If you answer them you are likely to get your information stolen, and to get a "job" where you will be receive a fraudulent payment and they you will be asked to deduct
your 'salary and commission' and to forward the balance to them, or to buy good for them. When your payment proves to be forged you will end up with a significant loss and probable legal problems.

June 20, 2012: "Wallet lost abroad" scam using the name of Mr. Pham Huu Phuoc

ProZ.com certified PRO member Pham Huu Phuoc reports that his name is being used in a “wallet lost abroad” scam with the following text:

How are you doing? This has had to come in a hurry and it has left me in a devastating state. My family and I had a visit to
(Philippines) unannounced some days back for a short vacation, unfortunately we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we
stayed,all cash, cell phones and credit cards were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us.
We've been to the Embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all and our flight leaves tomorrow but we're having
problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the bills. Please I really need your
financial assistance..am going to need some sort of loan from you and promise to pay you back once i get back home Please, Let me know
if you can help us out?
I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
Regards.

Of course our colleague is completely unrelated to this scam. It is worth noticing that the criminals slightly altered Mr. Phuoc Pham's Yahoo email address counting on possible victims not noticing the difference between the real one and the one created by the spammers.

This expands the scam alert issued on June 7, 2012. Several scam jobs of the 'overpayment' type have been reported as originated from Denz Harald denzharald@yahoo.de, Barry Christine barryctine@gmail.com and Ronny Krause ronnykrauseasy10@gmail.com. All were related to ProZ.com profiles that have been blocked and linked to BlueBoard entry http://www.proz.com/blueboard/36175. Examples of the scam jobs offered:

French into English interpreter required
If you are an French into English Interpreter who lives in Canada,please send your CV to denzharald@yahoo.de.
The assignment will last approximately four hours and will take place in Canada.
If you would be available to attend, please get in touch as soon as possible.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,

Business file 16150 words
I am looking for freelance translators who can provide French into English translation services.
Since i am not able to attach the sample document with this posting, please email (denzharald@yahoo.de) if you are interested and i will then email you
the sample document.
CAT tools requirement: Across, FrameMaker 9, InDesign CS3 PowerPoint, Word.

Business Documents
We are looking for a translator to work on five set of documents of 15,500words. CAT tools requirement: Across, FrameMaker 9, InDesign CS3 (soon to be
5), PowerPoint, Word.
If you are available, please send us your CV and rates to ronnykrauseasy10@gmail.com and we will email sample text to you.

Interested Translators
Hello, i am looking for freelance translator who can provide English into German (Germany) translation services.
Source format. Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word
If you are interested in this role and have relevant translation experience, please contact me at barryctine(at)gmail.com

June 18, 2012: Translation stolen by 'Greg Lordan'

A colleague reported being scammed by 'Greg Lordan', email address greglordan100002@gmail.com, who requested and got a translation from English
into Slovak and did not pay for it. The address provided by the scammers was 55 Warwick road, Walthamstow, E17 5NP, London, UK, Telephone : 44 024024641.

These name and email address were included in a special list published in this ProZ.com's Blue Board page that is in fact a very useful resource to check for
possible scammers.

June 15, 2012: Stiven, the private investor

The "private investor" scammers strike back, this time using the name 'stiven wilson' and the email address stivenwilson@gmail.com. Even the name was misspelled this time!

Hello,
As am browsing through the profiles translators on www.chicata.org I came across your profile,I kindly want you to translate one of my book that I
need to translate kindly get back to me on the language you handle,am a private investor.
If you are interested in translating for me kindly contact me back immediately you received my message for more information about the project.
Thanks,
Regards"

Once you have read a bunch of scam messages you learn not only to recognize the style but also to identify the "templates" they use for their attempts.

June 14, 2012: Wallet lost in Spain and reported from USA

A new "wallet lost abroad" scam has been reported, this time impersonating Mr. Nabil Baradey from the LinguistHouse Translation company, who has been already alerted about this situation. The message goes:

From: LinguistHouse Translation
Reply-To: lingulsthouse@yahoo.com
Subject: Urgent Help...........Nabil Baradey
How are you doing? This has had to come in a hurry and it has left me in a devastating state. My family and I had a visit to (Spain) unannounced some
days back for a short vacation, unfortunately we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed,all cash, cell phones and credit cards were
stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us.
We've been to the Embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all and our flight leaves tomorrow but we're having problems settling
the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the bills. Please I really need your financial assistance..Please, Let me know
if you can help us out?
I'm looking forward to hearing from you."

Even if you are not aware of this kind of scam, described here, a careful eye will detect that the email address linguisthouse@yahoo.com published
in the company's website has been changed into "lingulsthouse@yahoo.com". Also, IP address 98.139.44.158 locates the source of this message in Sunnyvale, CA, USA, not in Spain.

June 12, 2012: Overpayment scams from 'James Neel' and 'Shana Putnam'

Received from 'James Neel', email address jamesneel101@gmail.com

Hello,
I am James and i got your email from the website that you are a translator.
I want you to help me translate an article from (English-French).
I would like to know your terms and how much it would cost for the article?
Hope to hear from you as soon as possible

Received from 'Shana Putnam', email address spanthonykent@yahoo.com

Am in need of your translation service; English to Dutch.Get back to me as soon as possible

June 8, 2012: scam impersonating TRAVOD International

A scam impersonating the legitimate agency TRAVOD International has been reported using the fake email address sales.travod@gmail.com
The message sent was:

Hi,
We have a new project for you.
It is translation.
Language: German>Italian
Volume:2795 words
Rate: 0.04 EUR/words
Deadline: tomorrow, June 5th, by 4:00 pm GMT+1.
Please let us know if you are interested and available.
Thank you,
Ennery

Besides the unprofessional language, a visit to the "contact" tab in the agency's web page http://travod.com/ will show that all their emails belong to the dominion @travod.com and therefore the Gmail address is obviously fake. This is a nice example of how 5 minutes of risk management can protect you from heavy losses.

June 7, 2012: Overpayment scam by "Denz Harald"

An overpayment scam has been reported using the name Denz Harald and the address denzharald@yahoo.de. Scammers created a ProZ.com profile and posted a job on May 25, 2012 "Business File-EN>FRENCH". As soon as a scam was detected, the profile was blocked and tagged as such, associated to the BB record http://www.proz.com/blueboard/37177

The scammer wrote: "Here is my address for invoice:

Denz Harald
Vattumannens gata 140
City:Brandbergen
136 62 Sweden

Translators report receiving check payment sent by Denz Harald's client directly to them in excess of what was agreed. One of the translators submitted
the translation but fortunately refused to deposit the fake check.

Some paragraphs for our collection of scammers literature:

Thank you for your reply.Am out to Sweden at the moment but not a problem working together.I agree with your quoted rate, i will be paying in US Bank
Cheque.30% down payment will be issued out with balance after deliverly

Thank you for your email. I really need your understanding a this point. It was a mistake from my client and issuing all my money on your name. Please,
cash the payment as it has been sent out already to you. I hope to hear from you soon.

How are you doing.Thank you for your kindness and good work.I got an email from my client that the payment has been sent by my client,but there was a
mistake as my client issue an excess amount on your name which include my traveling agent fees to you.After cashing, you will take your down payment.I
don't think there is anything to worry about for the trust i have in you.You will send the excess funds to my agent for my trip.Please watch out for
the payment and let me know when you receive it.Thanks for your understanding."

June 6, 2012: Security report on LinkedIn

The BBC reports that LinkedIn is investigating claims that over six million of its users' passwords have been leaked onto the internet.

The BBC writes, quoting a security expert:

Our advice is to change your LinkedIn password. And if you use the same password on other accounts, change it there too.

There have been also reports of not-requested LinkedIn password-change messages that could be a phishing scheme. Do not click on the links included in suspect pages. Remember that by hovering the mouse over a link you can see where it really links to without the need of actually clicking on it.

This is not a normal scam alert report, but it was considered of relevance because many colleagues use LinkedIn as part of their marketing strategy.

June 4, 2012: Student scam from Sarah Mcbridge

The "student scam" has been reported again, this time using the name Sarah Mcbridge and the email address shmcbridge0100@gmail.com

First Message:

Am in need of your translation service; English to Arabic.
Get back to me as soon as possible.

Second Message:

Thanks for getting back to me. My name is Sarah Mcbridge; a University student, I want you to translate this documents for me. The source language is
English and the target language is Arabic. The documents are attached for you to review and perhaps get back to me with an estimation [price]. The
deadline is 3 weeks, is that possible? Payment will be made through Check. Let me know how it goes and please reply to this email for any other question.
Thanks in advance.

The translator sent a quote and asked for contact information and a 50% advance payment, and got the following reply:

Well i think am ok with the Quote and i will be sending you a Check which will get to you in 3 to 4 working days.If this is acceptable by you; do get
back to me with your full name and address so i can make the payment as soon as possible. I will make a full payment instead.
Looking forward to read back from you asap."

Later, the scammer added:

I had to travel to attend to my dad; his on a Sick bed. In regards to our agreement you will receive the check this week, i sent it out already but its
in excess due to the fact that I just came in possession of some more documents which I will like you to work on for me. I can not send them right now
until I get back home and I must say they are in the same volume as the one you are working on now. So, when you receive the check deduct the payment
for this translation and hold on to the rest for the subsequent translations. I hope you are okay with this?

When the translator insisted on the need of contact information, she got:

Sorry i will have provide you a cell phone number but am phone is not working here as i told you am out of state to take care of my Dad. Just let me
know when you receive the payment ok.

At this point the communications were broken. The next step would have been for the scammer to report that to attend his father's health she needed the extra money included in the check to pay for future translations, and ask the translator to wire that money to her. And afterwards the check would bounce, of course.

Once again, pay attention to the style used for sending these messages and the key elements such as poor English, lack of information on the sender, some urgency to send check(s) to you and a disregard for the translation and your rates and conditions. The extra payment is a big red light in this particular case.

May 2012

May 31, 2012: Proceedings against Maremagnum

It has come to the ProZ.com team's attention that legal proceedings are being prepared against the outsourcer known as MTM / Maremagnum Servicio Lingüístico / Grupo Universal / Grupo MTM / GRUPO TRADUCTORES ASOCIADOS / GLOBAL SCHOOL EMITIEM SL, see http://www.proz.com/blueboard/753

If you have worked for them you may be interested in providing information. The following information has been provided by Spanish authorities:

If you have worked for this outsourcer and are a member of the APTIC (Catalonian T&I association) please contact the secretariat at secretaria@aptic.cat
If you have worked for this outsourcer and are a member of ASETRAD or ACEtt, please contact the council for your organization with information.

In addition, a ProZ.com private forum has been created to allow those who are interested to share information and coordinate regarding this issue. If you would like to be added to this private forum, please contact site staff directly, using the online support system.

May 30, 2012: The "private investor" strikes back

A colleague was contacted via Aquarius.net by a scammer using the name Marielle Khouri and the email address mariellekhoury@gmail.com.

Concerned about the vagueness of the offer, the translator wrote "From your email I cannot gather any information about you, your firm or the services you provide. Can you please let me know where you are based, etc? I am sure you understand that prior to accepting any work, I need to make sure I work to reputable people/companies that will fulfil their part of the deal."

The "client" replied:

Hello, I am a private investor, I work on short time businesses.
My address is 41 Great Victoria St, Belfast BT2, UK, +447045786186
Now I guess you have an idea of whom you about to deal with.
Regards.

The translator asked for contact information but failed to verify it, and so she delivered the translation and afterwards she received from Belgium 2000 dollars in fake traveler checks sent by an alleged client of Marielle's. Our colleague had the good sense of going to the police instead of
falling for the scam, so all she lost was the time and efforts she put in the translation.

The scam reported in the April 3 scam alert report included the same address and the payment from Belgium. Several other reports including
the scammer's self-definicion as "a private investor working on short time businesses".These words should fire scam alarms, and are more relevant than the fake names and email addresses used by the criminals.

May 29, 2012: Fake domain registration renewal message

Members who host their websites with ProZ.com have reported receiving a message with the title "Registration expiration" and a price tag of $75.00 for one year registration addressed to the correct recipient domain name. There is a big link "PROCESS SECURE PAYMENT" and the message says:

To: Domain Owner
Your order #22343302 has been received and is currently processing. Registration includes SE submission for EXPRESSIONLANGSERVICES.COM for 12 months.
There is no obligation to pay for this order unless you complete your payment by Apr 30, 2012. SE Services provides submission services and search
engine ranking organization for domain owners.
Failure to complete your search engine registration by Apr 30, 2012 may result in the cancellation of this order (making it difficult for your
customers to locate you using search engines on the web).

Note that the message does not mention the expiry or renewal of the domain registration, but it clearly attempts to scare the recipient into thinking
that their domain registration is about to expire so that they will click on “PROCESS SECURE PAYMENT” and complete the payment process. This payment will not renew the domain and it will give only access to questionable services. Also you may be displaying your payment information in a dangerous way.

May 24, 2012: Scammers impersonating Bechtel Corporation

May 23,2012: The scammer impersonating Michael Becker is still active

A member reported an overpayment scam impersonating Michael Becker from the fake email address becker3e4@gmail.com where she received a check for an amount higher than the agreed one, and was requested to wire via Western Union the excess payment to: BUSISIWE BALFOUR, CAPE TOWN 7441,South Africa. The member lost the time spent in the translation but the did not wire the money.

May 22, 2012: Scammers stealing translations from Italy

Two colleagues reported receiving a translation request from Spanish into Italian with a promise of payment upon delivery and the urgent request of sending the first section of the file on the following day. The IP address locates the scammers in the north of Italy.

In one case the fake contact data used was Maria Berg, maria.berg23@yahoo.com and in the other case it was : Laura Jones, laurajonesss@live.com (in this case they claimed to be located in Perú). In boths cases the translators send the requested translations and lost contact with the “outsourcer”
afterwards.

Remember to avoid starting a job unless you have positive identification of the "client". Asking for advance payment can be an additional precaution when working with new customers.

May 21, 2012: Scammers stealing translations from Madrid

Two translators reported a scamming message in Spanish sent using the name "María Medeiro", the email address 'mariammayan@hotmail.com' and an IP address 85.58.28.51 that locates the scammers in Madrid:

As usual the request is very brief and urgent, and there is no information on the sender. Style is more revealing than fake names and addresses.

Apparently the objective of the scam is to steal the translation (not the more frequent overpayment scam) and it is similar to the scam sent by "Gonzalo Benjumeda", also from Madrid and also using a Hotmail address, reported in our scam alert of April 20, 2012.

May 17, 2012: Two known scammers with new skins

The "private investor from 46 Belgrave Rd" reported on April 19 is still at work, this time using the very unique name "John Smith" and the email address john_smith5000@hotmail.com

The business traveler who will give a conference abroad and needs a translation so "each of my audience can have a copy", reported on
February 25
and May 8 was reported by two new victims, both English to Arabic translators. In one case the name used was a classic "Ray Morgan", email unreported,
victim did not wire the overpayment but lost the translation time.

In the second case the name used was "Richard Taylor" and the email address richardtaylor009@gmail.com. IP located the scammer in Cairo, Egypt, and
the victim was asked to wire the overpayment (check of USD950 send for a USD100 job) to:
First Name: Fatimon Last Name: Oladejo
Address: 37 Sharawy Street,Heliopolis,
City: Cairo Country: Egypt

May 13, 2012: Scam sent from a ProZ.com paid profile

Scammers created a ProZ.com profile http://www.proz.com/profile/1594835 with username translatorskool, paid membership for better credibility and used this profile to send scam messages to translators from the address myofficecontactt@gmail.com

One instance of the Secret Shopper scam was reported, but most colleagues reported a classic overpaymen scam job offer:

Good day,
I just saw your profile on proz, i have a job for you, i will like to know if you are available or not. Please get back to me if you
are interested
Please keep in touch
Regards
myofficecontactt@gmail.com

The profile used for sending this scam has been blocked and kept visible with a warning to let translators who received the messages that they are dealing with a scammer.

Once again, learning the scammers' style can be more useful than knowing the disposable names or email addresses they use and drop.

May 11, 2012: new impersonation of the "project book" scam

A new impersonation of the scam reported on April 16 has been sent to two members, this time using the name "James", the email address kazidyj@hotmail.co.uk and the IP address 50.82.103.179 (USA):

Hello,
A translator is needed to translate a project book from English to French language,should you be interested contact me with your CV.and let me know
if you can translate to Spanish as well.
Regards.

May 10, 2012: "Wallet lost abroad" again

A new version of the classic "wallet lost abroad" scam is being sent today involving our colleague Klaus Urban. ProZ.com site staff are currently getting in touch with Klaus on the matter. The fake message states:

Bad Situation..........Urgent Help Needed
I really don’t mean to inconvenience you right now but I'm writing this with tears in my eyes. I made a quick trip to Antigue, Philippine for a short
Stay. Unfortunately I was robbed at the hotel car parking by some set of robbers at the hotel where I stay, all cash, credit card and mobile phones
were stolen from me but fortunately for me I still got my passports with me.
I have been to the embassy and to the police to report the case but the they are not helping the matter in any case. Now I don't have enough money with
me to get my air fare back home and pay for the hotel bills and the hotel management won't allow me to leave. I'm pleading with you to loan me $2,850
Dollars right now and wire it via western union money transfer with my name. I'll pay back as soon as I get home. I need to sort out the hotel bills
and get back home with available flight.
I'm freaked out at the moment.
Klaus Urban"

May 9, 2012: Lego Translations has a web page but they are not located where they claim to be

A colleague received the following invitation from "Amelia Fredricksen", email address info@legotranslations.com and IP address: 86.108.51.115:

The above link leads to a page for Lego Translations, with contact information: Los angeles,CA, 1419 Westwood Blvd, United States

Lego Translations is not registered in the Blue Board and the web page looks "self-contained", with no external references in Google.

The contact information contains no phone number

The address indicated in the contact information belongs to Ketab Corp., a specialized bookstore that also perform translations from English to Persian and vice versa, but never heard of Lego Translations.

The IP address used for contacting the translator is based in Amman, Jordan

This could be irrelevant, but on April 17 we reported a scam also based on Jordan using the company name "Lengotrans".

May 8, 2012: Update on names and addresses of known scams

The "Daniel Cole from Anchorage" scam included in our scam alert report of May 3, 2012 has shifted now to "Gregory Laventure" writing from bargainlink001@gmail.com

Hello,
How are you doing today and am Gregory Laventure.I want to know if you will be available for translation and from English to which language can you
translate to,get back to me also how much do you charge per word.Hope to read from you soonest.
Kind regards,
Gregory Laventure
905 Richardson Vista Rd
Anchorage, AK 99501, USA.
909-521-8315

Also there is a new instance of the classic scam asking for translation of a presentation "so each of my audience can have a copy" (their signature)
included in our scam alert report of February 25, 2012. This time the message was sent by "Dr Theresa Collins" from the address heresacollins123@gmail.com

Greetings,
I'm Dr Theresa Collins from Boulevard,CA and i'll be departing to United Kingdom on a business trip tomorrow.However,i will need your service to
translate some documents for me.I need to make a presentation to some groups of French speaking people in Tunisia on the 30th of June ,2012.I will need
you to translate the papers from English to French so each of my audience can have a copy in French language and they can follow through.I will also
need the work to be delivered before June 27th,2012.looking forward to hear back from you soon.
Let me know your rate and charges.Presentation is attached.
Dr T Collins"

May 7, 2012: Bill Gordon scams translators and dance instructors

A member reported the following scam message sent using the name "Gordon Bill" and the email address gordonbill02@gmail.com:

Subject: inquiry
Sir/Madam,
I found your info while searching for a professional LANGUAGE INTERPRETER/TRANSLATOR and i want to believe you are such a reliable and experienced
one.i have 4 man delegate coming from SPAIN for their (ANNUAL FINANCIAL CONFERENCE) within your location.how ever,they don't understand English
Language,SPANISH Language is the only language they understand,so am seeking for ENGLISH-SPANISH INTERPRETER basically for oral communication for 3
hours each day Monday to Saturday (morning hours).
The delegate would be arriving on the 1st day of JULY 2012, ENDING: 8th JULY 2012.
Further more,an agent has been contracted for their accommodation and flight logistics.
Lastly,On confirmation of the above stated i want you to get back to me with the Grand total cost for the whole period specified including all
applicable taxes 'if' there is such?.what is your payment options? Hope you accept credit cards?
Your prompt reply will be appreciated.
Regards,
Gordon Bill
P.O. Box 7841
Sudbury, L18 8BY Liverpool UK.
Cell: + 447024036871
Fax: +448-712-563-610"

A quick investigation in the web revealed an identical message sent by "Owen Goldman" and from a Nigerian IP, see http://tiny.cc/s4fydw
I also found a very similar letter from the same Bill Gordon asking for a dance lessons "for 3 hours each day Monday to Saturday (morning hours)".
In this case Bill writes: "I found your information while surfing for a dance instructor within your location.how ever,i want to believe you are a
dance teacher/instructor reliable with a good teaching experience.

Once again, learning the scammers' style can be more useful than knowing the disposable names or email addresses they use and drop.

May 4, 2012: Overpayment scams from Nick Ungefug

There is a long history of overpayment scams associated to the name Nick Ungefug (The name Ungefug is very German, meaning mischief).
Telltale signs: sent BCC, not personalized, no reference to you, not even the required target language! A second name and email address is usually added.
Some recent examples:

From: Nick Ungefug Date: 2011/9/22
Subject: 4200 words project
To: "sh.simpson2" (Sharon Simpson)
I have a project of about 4200 words on home schooling. I am in need of a translator who can deliver within 2 weeks. Email me estimate and process to
achieve this. Let me know what language you are based on.
sh.simpson2@yahoo.co.uk

Subject:piece of project:
Nick Ungefug punkieu@gmail.com
Hello,
I have a piece of project to be translated. It could be needed in a couple of languages.
The source is English. Kindly let me know your charging rate, language you can handle and payment method accepted.
I wait to hear from you soonest.
Regards
jettravels@live.com

Nick Ungefug punkieu@gmail.com
to sa.smith247, bcc: me
I got your contact from a translator directory while I was searching for a reliable translator to handle my project. I am a private investor who
invest on short time projects. Kindly copy both emails for prompt response.
Sarah Smith
sasmith247@airpost.net

May 3, 2012: Overpayment scam from Daniel Cole and Williams Greene

Several members received an overpayment message sent by scammers using the names "Daniel Cole" and "Williams Greene" and the email addresses coledaniel@y7mail.com and wgreene17@ymail.com and stvd.17@gmail.com

The first message was sent BBC and it said:

Hello,
How are you doing today and am Daniel Cole.I want to know if you will be available for translation and from English to which language can you translate
to,get back to me also how much do you charge per word.Hope to read from you soonest."

To the usual lack of information on the sender this message adds the absurd of having a client contacting translators to ask about their working language pairs. How were the translators selected in the first place?

The second message had attached a 2500 word document of drugs and their affect on the brain and it said:

Hello,
Thanks for your swift response and am very happy to read from you,i want it to translate it and from English to {target language} also let me know the
total cost. The document is base on drug so we want to use to it to create more awareness on drug for those who abuse it and the article will be read
by teenagers.
I want it back in 20 days however the payment will be through Check which is in Aud $ so send me your name and address with phone number where the
payment will be mail to and am ready to make deposit so you can start with the translation soonest,hope to hear read from you soon.
I wish you a pleasant day.
Regards,
Daniel Cole
905 Richardson Vista Rd
Anchorage, AK 99501, USA.

The third email made the nature of the scam very clear:

Morning,
Thanks for your mail and how is your day going? Some people request for translation to be done and run away with your money,i do have a personal
translation but right now she is sick that is why am looking for a competent and trustworthy translation.I have gave a job to a translation and paid
him advance and he did run away with my money and i don't want to be a victim anymore but am ready to give you a chance which i will pay you upfront
because there are many jobs we are going to do together.This is a charity which help less privilege kid around there world also the money is needed for
Republic of Vanuatu relief,I hope you understand me.
However,my sponsor notify me that the money order has mail out and there was a mistake with the amount which is 2700 Aud so what i want you to do know
is get it cashed and you will send the difference back to us after you have deduct your money so you will send it to us through western union,you are
saving a million lives and may God almighty bless you as you do so.Awaits your mail soon.
I wish you a pleasant day ahead
Regards

A clever colleague reported receiving the following messages from scammers using the name "John Yates" and the email address johnnyatess@gmail.com

Hello,
I need a translator who understands English/French to help me with translating aproject. Are you available at the moment,so we could proceed?
What is your charge? I expect your urgent response.
Best Regards"

When asked for more information, the scammer wrote:

Hi,
Thanks for your reply
I will be coming to France in 2weeks.I need translator to translate up to 15,700 source of words for me from English into French.
I am offering 0.10euro/word. If agreed, Part payment will be issued out before commencement of work for i do understand it is necessary since we
working online.
Your information is needed for background check and confirmation hence i require you to provide me with your full name and address and mobile phone number.
I await your urgent response.
Best Regards
John Yates
+447956968663 (sms only)
+442081446028

The key element in this investigation are the phone numbers above, already included in several reports as used by scammers "Guy Fernandez Secret Shopper" and "Tom Barker Secret Shopper".

April 2012

April 30, 2012: Overpayment offer from willsmorgan46@gmail.com

Our scam alert of March 22 reported two cases of overpayment scam sent from the address willsmorgan46@gmail.com. Now we received reports of a scam sent from the new address but this time we received the IP address (41.151.241.146 - Johannesburg, South Africa) and the full text:

Subject: translator needed
Sent by: williams
Hello, good day to you. There is a document I will like you to work on for me. I want it translated into English. The source language is spanish.
Let me know if you are available so I can forward the document. Thank you

This text is a classic example of scammer writing, including the lack of information on both sender and subject, the lack of concern about rates
and conditions, the very brief and special wording, etc. This should be a warning signal for any informed linguist.

April 27, 2012: Wallet lost in Scotland but reported from USA

Two members reported receiving a "wallet lost abroad" scam message allegedly from certified PRO member Yumico Tanaka, who of course is not related to this operation in any way and who has been already alerted about this scam. The message was:

Subject: Financial Assistance
Hello, How are you doing today? I know this might be a surprise to you but am sorry to reach out to you in this manner. I apologize for not informing
you about my travel to Scotland for a Meeting.
Everything is going fine but there's a little problem, I misplaced my wallet on my way back to the hotel and right now all my credit cards and money
are gone. Am sending you this message to inform you that am stranded at the moment and need your help financially. Am not sure if you have that much
but will you be able to help me with a loan of 1600 British Pounds to pay the hotel bills and get back home?
I will appreciate whatever amount you can afford to help me with and am sorry for the inconvenience this message might cause you but please understand
that am in a very bad situation right now and would appreciate if you could help me out. I will email you the transfer details upon your reply.
Thank you in advance.
Best regards,
Yumico Tanaka
Please note: All my email transactions are monitored by another Proz.com certified translator for the sake of safety and decency.

The message was allegedly sent from Scotland, but the IP address shows that it was sent from the USA.

Hello, I write to inquire for the service of an English to Spanish Interpreter for an upcoming event in Spain.Kindly reply if interested.
Warm Regards,
White Briggs

Hello, I write to inquire for the service of an English to French Interpreter for an upcoming event in Belgium.Kindly reply if interested.
Warm Regards,
Mills Rogers"

Both interpreters asked different questions but both got the same identical answer (Even in the exchange started by "White Briggs" this reply was
signed by "Rogers Mills"):

Thank you very much for your reply.I am interested in booking you for 3 to 4 days between 11th to 15th of June.
Purpose: To work as a liaison Interpreter between myself and 3 French speaking independent business men.
Venue: Barcelona, Spain Time : 9am to 4pm daily
Subject: To develop marketing Concept and Strategies on how to introduce a new product in Spain.
Kindly note that the website is under construction and i shall supply you any other information as we unfold issues.
I am a very busy person and i will be happy to get what the fee for your service will be so i can plan along with it because I have many assignments
on my neck between now and the next 3 weeks.
Will await your response.
Warm Regards,
Mills Rogers"

One of the interpreters kept asking for verifiable contact information to no avail. In the last (fourth) message received before the interpreter gave up, the scammers wrote:

Thank you for your reply.You sound very matured and interesting.I think you deserve the job ... I went through the quote and i think is pretty fair.I
shall send you my materials as soon as they are ready to keep you updated and other necessary information.Kindly supply payment details so that i can
treat it before i embark on my traveling in the next few days.Will always contact you via mail.Please supply, name to be written on check, full address
to send the check and your direct mobile number so i can make a deposit while you block those days for me.
Warm Regards,
Mills Rogers"

Both interpreters acted wisely and detected the scam. The next step would have been the sending of a (false) check for an excess amount and a
later request to wire the "excess payment" back.

April 20, 2012: "Gonzalo Benjumeda" scam from Madrid

Two colleagues have reported being scammed by a person using the name Gonzalo Benjumeda and the email address gonzabenjumeda87@hotmail.com and writing from IP address 85.58.16.184 (Madrid).

Both first messages (in Spanish) had the classic "scammer style", no greetings, very brief and with no information about the sender. They were:

Both colleagues delivered their translations. One of them lost track of the "client" immediately after delivery. The other one asked for advance payment and got a transfer order that was later found to be false.

April 19, 2012: Over-payment scam from “George William"

On April 7 we alerted about a scam requesting translators "to translate a project book" from Norfolk, UK. Now two more reports were received with additional information that, even if false, will help us recognize the style and data used by this particular scammer. Name and address were still “George William" and ggwill45@hotmail.com and the first message was, again:

Hello,
A translator is needed to translate a project book from English to Italian language,should you be interested contact me with your CV."

The second message included:

Thanks for your urgent response. I am looking for a translator to work on the pair stated for the new book that I am working on.I have chosen you to
work on the project for we are in-between a new business that will require us to write out in {target language} . I will attached the project if u
are ready, just want you to have an understanding of what we are about to do. I am a private investor, I work on short time businesses. my address is
46 Belgrave Rd
Redbridge,
London
Zip Code: E11 3QW,
Country: UK

The address given is in London but the IPs are from the West of England.
In the third message the scammer offered paying 30% in advance by check and asked, as usual, for Full Name, Full address, city, state, zip code and a Direct phone number. Clearly an over-payment scam.

April 17, 2012: Scam with stolen text

A member reported the following job offer via his ProZ.com profile from non-logged-in visitor "Agatha Wear", email address agatha@lengotrans.co.cc and IP address 92.253.88.228:

Dear Translator,
We are recruiting translators who can translate Medical German into English text for Monday morning. This is part of a larger job. Files would be in
.pdf format. Please contact us if you are interested & include your CV .
Best regards,
Agatha Wear
22 Floral Street, Covent Garden, London AC3 9DH.
agatha@lengotrans.co.cc
www.lengotrans.co.cc"

This text is different from normal overpayment scams. The text is better and there is a reasonable amount of information on the sender, so we move into the next step and start investigating this data, to find:

The address provided by the sender is no London, but the IP address of the message locates them in Jordan

There is a well know translation company with a name very close to Lengotrans, but no translation agency with that name was found in Google

The text in the email is better that usual because it was stolen from a job posted at ProZ.com on March 16, 2012

Avira generates an alarm about web page http://www.lengotrans.co.cc/ "Warning. In order not to compromise your security, this page will not be accessed. The requested URL has been identified as a potentially dangerous website."

PS: additional instances of this scam have been reported with different IP addresses but the same email address and variations of the same basic text.

April 16, 2012: Similar scam from 3 addresses

Three different email addresses have been reported as sending a scam job offer to translators with very similar texts. Once more, the first alert comes from the poor grammar and the lack of information on the sender. If you read an offer like these and failed to delete it immediately, then the next step should be getting verifiable contact information from the sender.

The following message was sent by "monika", email monglass34@hotmail.com and IP address 41.155.66.53 (Nigeria) and also by "John", email jgateinc@hotmail.com and IP address 146.185.29.99 (England):

Hello
,A translator is needed to translate a project book from english to Hungarian language,should you be interested contact me with your CV.
Warm Regards

A slightly more elaborate version was sent by "Alan Ferguson", email alan.ferguson17@yahoo.com and IP address 41.155.40.97 (Nigeria):

Hello,
A translator is needed to translate a project book from English to French language,The tittle of the book is project management made easy and the
total number of words are 17610 words. should you be interested contact me with your CV.
warm regards,
Alan."

April 12, 2012: Scam attempt by Robert Hanson

A member reported receiving a job offer that is most likely a scam. Senders used the identity Robert Hanson and the email address rob.hans3@yahoo.com and the IP address 69.22.186.174 locates them in the New York area. The message was:

Hello, i need to translate a document from English language to German as soon as possible, please get back to me if you are available for the job.
Thanks

Translator asked for the file to be translated and, according to its properties, it was saved by "High Chief Ogunsanya". Besides the classic scammer style (with no identification at all, short to the point of being impolite), a quick Google search revealed several hits of Nigerian scams associated to both the names " Robert Hanson" and "Ogunsanya"

April 7, 2012: Scam attempt by George William

A colleague was contacted by scammers using the name “George William" and the email address ggwill45@hotmail.com with an IP address
91.228.3.120 locating them in Norfolk, UK. The first message was:

“Hello,
A translator is needed to translate a project book from english to Polish language,should you be interested contact me with your CV.
Regards”

The next message was:

"Thank for getting back to me..The subject of the book is Project Management ,I will be waiting to read back from you.."

When the translator asked for an identity verification including a physical address and a land phone number, the scammers went away looking for less prepared victims.

Names and email addresses are important, but so is recognizing the scammers’ “style”. Red lights should flash when you receive a translation request with no signature, no details and short to the point of being impolite.
And remember to always identify the “client” before committing to a job.

April 5, 2012: "Business Sustainability Management Framework" scam

An advance payment scam has been reported by several translators in the form of the request for the translation if a long PDF file on "Business Sustainability Management Framework".

IP addresses locate the origin of these messages at Pretoria, South Africa and the "client" assumes several fake identities, among them:

Ann Woods, annwoods72@ymail.com

Martin Flora, martin_flora@ymail.com

Charles Weblon, weblon@yahoo.com

Ron Strauss, ronstrauss7@gmail.com

Teresa Lartuna (mail unreported)

Flora Mcmannan (floramcmannaman@yahoo.com)

In at least one of the cases the initial message was:

Hello, good day to you. There is a document I will like you to work on for me. I want it translated into Spainish. The source language is English.
Let me know if you are available so I can forward the document. Thanks.
Ann

April 3, 2012: Overpayment scam from Elle Schumacher

Another overpayment scam attempt was reported by a member. This time the scammers wrote from the address elleschumacher6@gmail.com and claimed the following contact information: Elle Schumacher; 21 Great Victoria Street; BT2; BELFAST

The original message was a classic scam opening:

"I have a piece of work to be translated. I want to know the language you handle and your charging rate.
I await these details soonest.
Regards"

Note the total lack of information on the "client" or the nature of the translation job required, and the request to report "the language you handle". What kind of search did they perform if they don't know "the language (SIC) you handle"?

All translator's conditions were accepted and a price of 900 Euros was agreed for the translation of an e-book. "Client" indicated that payment would< be 50% in advance with checks and when translator objected the related high banking fees, the client offered to cover these costs (more red light here).

Three days later the translator received a normal mail envelope sent from Antwerpen, Belgium, by a different sender, containing 2500 dollars in traveler checks. When asked about this excess payment the "client" urged her to cash the checks. At this point the translator had the good sense of going to the bank to have the checks verified, and of course they turned out to be false.

Never engage in a business proposition from strangers unless you have positive (verified) information on their identity. Also ask yourself why they selected you and do your risk management homework.

March 2012

March 29, 2012: Overpayment attempt by Robert Hanson

A Proz.com member received a profile message from a non-logged-in visitor who called himself "Robert Hanson", with an address rob.hans2@yahoo.com and an IP address that located him in Chicago, USA.

The original message simply said "hi. i've got some documents for translation." and the next messages expanded it to ""Yes about 12,000 english words. i will forward the document to you as soon as we complete negociation. what is your rate and what is your mode of payment?" and "it has to do with the climatic change. you can also be paid with a check . i will forward the document to you as soon as possible so you can get back to me with the total cost price."

When the translator asked the "client" about his current location, "Robert Hanson" declared to be "presently in the south africa to get some informations." Since the IP address located the client in USA, the member demanded identification and other related information and did not hear back from the "client".

This looks a lot like an advance payment scam attempt cleverly averted by the translator. Also, it may be irrelevant, but I have seen a lot of scams where the pronoun "I" is written like a small "i".

March 27, 2012: Impersonation of the legitimate company ASTA-USA

Mr. Trevor Devlin from the company ASTA-USA has reported that another company (which uses the website www.tr-services.us) is using ASTA-USA's physical address on their purchase orders. ASTA-USA is taking legal actions on this issue. An investigation in the Web lead to two translators who were abused by these scamers, contact name Silvia. In both cases they delivered a translation, lost contact with the "client" and were never paid.

One of them provided a PO dated Feb 21, 2012 with the header "Translation Services", the physical address of ASTA-USA, the email address
info@tr-services.us and the web address www.tr-services.us. The IP address in the emails corresponds to Egypt.

In the second case the scammers approached a legitimate end client misrepresenting a serious translation agency (different from ASTA-USA), got the translation job and assigned it to the victim. Scammers got paid by the end client and then vanished. When contacted by the translator, the end client acted honorably and paid her, even though they had already paid the scammer.

The web page http://www.tr-services.us/ offers many language-related services, shows a list of prestigious clients and invites translators to offer their services, but it has no contact information besides the info@tr-services.us email address.

March 26, 2012: Secret Shopper scam / Western Union scam

A new variant of the "Secret shopper" or "Western Union" scam has been reported by several colleagues. The messages are sent by "Joel Greenwood, Judd Financial Services hiring manager".

The scammer will contact you offering you a job position (you did not requested) in a Payment Protection services company, after reviewing your CV that you didn't submit). The job is a part-time assignment with good salary and commissions and all you have to do is receive in your accounts the payments from the "buyers" and, once the transaction was cleared, to keep your remuneration and to wire the remaining amounts to the "sellers".

You will receive checks or similar instruments that you will deposit in your bank account and the bank will credit the money, then you will transfer
the payments to the "sellers". Later, the checks will be found to be forged or stolen and you will lose all the money you transferred and you will have legal problems for handling bad checks.

March 22, 2012: Overpayment scam by Ashley Williams

Two independent sources have reported scams related to work orders received from "Ashley Williams" or "Ashley Wealthy" through the email address willsmorgan46@gmail.com (the names are probably fake and no one called that way should be considered related to this scam).

In both cases the translators accepted the job in spite of having no real contact information and in both cases the "client" refused to pay via Paypal and stated that payment would be by check. In one of the cases a fake check was received for an amount larger than agreed (a classic "excess payment" scam), while in the other case no payment (long overdue) has been received yet.

March 21, 2012: More on the scam impersonating Michael Becker

After the alarm was sent yesterday, several translators provided additional information of the scammer impersonating Michael Becker from the email address becker3e4@gmail.com

The scammer contacts translators making reference to a job published and then deleted at ProZ.com asking for availability. In the second message he sends a text and asks for a quote. The third message asks for a lot of contact information and says:

"Thank you for your reply.Am out to Sweden at the moment but not a problem working together.I agree with your quoted rate, i will be paying in EURO
Bank Cheque.Your full payment will be issued out before commencement of work for i do understand it is necessary since we working online."

The fourth message reveals a classic "excess payment" scam:

"Payment was sent today by my client,but there was a mistake as my client purchase a Bank Draft check of Euro 4650 on your name which include my
traveling agent fees to you.After cashing, you will take your down payment.I don't think there is anything to worry about for the trust i have in
you.You will send the excess funds to my agent for my trip to France.Please watch out for the payment and let me know when you receive it.Thanks for
your understanding."

Of course the check will prove a forgery and the victim risks losing the time invested in the translation and also the "excess payment" wired to the criminals, plus possible legal problems for cashing a forged check. Remember to get full and verified contact information from any client approaching you before investing time in them.

March 20, 2012: Scam impersonating Michael Becker

ProZ.com member Michael Becker has reported that scammers are attempting to steal from translators by posting fake jobs in his name, using the email address becker3e4@gmail.com (already blocked in ProZ.com). ALERT: The address becker3e4@gmail.com does not belong to Michael and anything coming from it should be considered a scam attempt.

This operation was detected because two potential victims had the good sense of contacting Michael via his ProZ.com profile asking for him to confirm the job offer, and because Michael immediately reported this to ProZ.com staff.

Further investigation unearthed a previous job posted in January at ProZ.com (it had been deleted by staff because it was identical to another job from an unrelated outsourcer) and a currently deleted ProZ.com profile with the username "compase".

Please spread the voice among colleagues, including a link to this report. It is likely that many translators have receive these false job offers and only two (and you) have been told so far that this is a scam.

March 16, 2012: Good risk management

A colleague wrote today asking for a risk evaluation of a proposal received from a stranger via her ProZ.com profile.

The message said: "Am in need of your translation service; English to Polish.Get back to me as soon as possible."

A name was provided in the header together with a free fantasy email address (unrelated to the name)

The author of this proposal was not a registered ProZ.com user or was not logged in when the offer was sent. * IP address was from Sylva, NC, USA

There is not enough information to call this a scam. In fact there is not enough information for any kind of evaluation. The message is short to the point of being unpolite. No "dear xxx", no greetings of any kind, no signature. Not a word about what the job is (except for the language pair). No explanation on how the translator was selected.

In my personal case this is enough to send the message to the dust bin without further reflection, but if you want to explore this opportunity you should first find out in a verifiable way who your potential client is (physical address, a phone land line where you should place a call, etc.)

Also you could ask for a sample of the test to be translated and google every piece of data you received from the "client", and anything else required to have you comfortably convinced that you are dealing with a real person with a real need. The first task when contacted by a stranger is to verify its identity. Translation comes later.

You could also ask for a 50% advance payment and not start the translation until payment is received. If check received is for a sum larger than agreed and you are asked to wire back the difference then cut all connections, as scam will be confirmed.

A last note: the colleague wrote "It looks suspicious, though it was sent by ProZ." Please note that this message was not sent by ProZ.com, and not even by a ProZ.com member. The message states "The author is not a registered ProZ.com user or was not logged in when sending this message." so all we know is that somebody found the colleague's profile and used the "send message" feature.

March 15, 2012: Scam impersonating Industranslation

On February 28, 2012 Mr. Kamran Nadeem, the Operational Manager at www.industranslation.com reported that scammers were misusing his name and profile to cheat translators from a fake address industranslation001@gmail.com . Translators are offered jobs at good rates and, after delivery,
they are not paid and their emails are no longer answered. Apparently at least six translators have been cheated this way.

Now Mr. Nadeem has reported that the scammers keep impersonating him, this time using the fake address industranslation.kamran@gmail.com (also
blocked and added to the Blue Board page)

This is a clasic example of scammers who steal translations by impersonating a legitimate ourtsourcer. Translators should not start working without
a positive identification of the client. In this case a corporate Gmail email address should set alerts, and a verification of the IP address would locate the scammer in China (the real outsourcer is based in the USA).

March 13, 2012: : Advance payment scam / overpayment scam

A colleague received from an unknown person the request to translate an attached text, with a very generous deadline, and she replied with a quite high rate, bearing in mind she did not know the potential customer, or how he had reached her.
The "client's" wrote in his second email:

"Am very much happy to read back from you. I felt so great and comfortable with the charges for the pages in which am sure it will be well prepared,
easy and well understood by the reader.
Kindly get back to me with your Full Name to be on the payment, your Address and zip code and your cell phone number so i can instruct my secretary to
issue out the full payment as soon as possible for the service.Do note that you will not release the translation to me not until have the payment with
you. I will need your immediate response via email assuring me that i can trust you to handle this with care

When the translator, feeling uneasy, tried to get more information on the identity of the client, he never answered back. This was most probably a failed "overpayment" scam and the professionalism of the translator saved her money, time and troubles.

Remember that when approached with a proposal you need to know (and verify) the real identity of your client. Professional outsourcers will respect you more if you verify them, and scammers will go away looking for a less careful victim.

March 12, 2012: Phishing "data verification" scam

A member reported a classing phishing scam targeting PayPal users:

Subject: Warning! Your PayPal account was limited!
Dear Customer,
Warning! Your PayPal account was limited!
As part of our security measures, we regularly activity in the PayPal screen to learn recently you were contacted after finding a problem on your
Account. at the request of information from you for the reason follows:What's the problem?
-Our system detected unusual charges to a card Credit linked to your PayPal account.
Click To Confirm
PayPal Email ID: 5138-8872
Department of examining the accounts of PayPal.
The PayPal Corp. Copyright 1999-2012. All rights reserved
Sincerely,
PayPal

This is a basic version of phishing scam, were the victim is induced to click on a link, or sometimes on an image with an embedded link that will install a trojan or virus in his/her computer.

Please note that no serious institution will write a personalized message like this to a customer addressing him/her as "dear customer" (they should have at least an user name). Also the description of the problem is confusing, close to meaningless.

If you receive a mesage like this allegedly from Paypal, a bank, a government institution, etc. just delete it without a second thought.

March 9, 2012: : Advance payment scam / overpayment scam

A ProZ.com member reported today that she recently received a request for translation of a document, from a person who claimed to be a student.
The level of English in the email exchanges was very poor.They agreed on a fixed price of 400 USD and she completed the translation, but she kept
it while waiting for the check "which is in the mail". Increasingly concerned, she investigated the IP address of the email to discover that it was
from Nigeria, so it is most likely an overpayment scam.

When you get a job offer from a stranger you should first do your risk management homework until you are reasonable sure that this is a real client and you have consistent contact information. This kind of inquiry should be done before you start translating and we should be as professional when we evaluate a job as we are when we translate it. If we fail in this area we are at the mercy of criminals who are experts in exploiting the good faith of decent people.

March 8, 2012: Employment abroad scam

A colleague reported a situation when he answered to an ad that apparently was from the Ritz Hotel in London, asking for an in house translator with a rather generous salary, room and board and a lot of other fringe benefits. All his exchange with who apparently was the real HR Hotel’s head
went well, until the time to processing the work permit came and he was asked to contact “their” immigration agent. He did and then was asked to send certified copies of the related documents and along with them the “agent’s fee” that was about 700 British pounds.

When he wrote back to the HR head and told her that in the Hotel’s ad, it had said the hotel would cover those expenses and the plane ticket, she answered back and said that it was correct and that the translator would get a reimbursement upon his arrival. It was then when he Googled the immigration agent’s name and found out that he was a swindler. Of course, if he sent the money he was going to get no job, and definitely no refund.

March 7, 2012: Wallet lost abroad

A variant of the "wallet stolen abroad" scam where the need is due to a medical emergency was reported by the alleged sender of the distress
message, sent from her hacked msn account.

Hi All,
Hope all is well. I've have spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday here in Madrid,I had a trip to Madrid (SPAIN) to be with
my ill Cousin,whom is a student here.I'm writing this with sadness right now,cuz am facing a terrible situation right now.
She was admitted because she had an impaired vision on the left-hand side of her eye. So we assumed that this was migraine
(without the headache), which we taught was her normal sickness, and would disappear in around half an hour. It didn't. It
continued all day and was still there when she woke up on Thursday, though slightly improved. So we took her to the doc who
suspected a stroke and sent her straight off to Acute Stroke Assessment Unit. Nothing showed up on the CT scan, luckily, and
they discharged her with a bag of drugs.. I am deeply sorry for not writing or calling you before leaving, the news of her illness
arrived to me as an emergency and that she needs family support to keep her going, I hope you understand my plight and pardon me.
So I want to transfer her back home to have the surgery implemented with my Doc,the cost of the surgery here is very
expensive, and again i need to monitor her while she's in town with me.So i was wondering if you can help me out monetarily,what
i was looking for was about €2,600 to make the necessary arrangement but right now i have raised €1450 from my family.I
traveled with little money due to the short time I had to prepare for this trip and never expected things to be the way it is right
now,please what am looking for right now is €1150 and i will be so glad if you can help me and I'll surely pay you back upon
return, I need to get her home ASAP because she is going through a lot of pain at the moment and the doctor have advised that it is
necessary that the tumor is operated soon to avoid anything from going wrong. I'll reimburse you upon my return. kindly let me know
if you can be of any help ?
Love,

In order to prevent your accounts from being stolen you should change passwords frequently and be specially careful when using the account in a
shared platform (such as an Internet cafe computer). Passwords should not be stored in unencrypted text files in your computer and the antivirus
should be active and updated.

March 6, 2012: Impersonated client scam

A ProZ.com member contacted Support to report that she completed a job for an agency and then, after delivery, the project manager stopped answering
her emails and disappeared. Looking into the case, the alleged representative from the agency performed all communications with the translator from the email address translatorquote1@gmail.com

The "contact" tab in the web page corresponding to the agency includes the following email addresses for communication:

The first risk management action to perform when offered a job from a new client is to positively identify this client. No honest client will be
offended if you do your professional homework.

March 5, 2012: Impersonated client scam

Scammer contacted victim from a @rambler.ru email address claiming to be representatives of a legitimate company called Rambler Internet Holdings. After performing several small editing jobs, the victim found out that Rambler is a common search engine and email provider like Google, and
ramble.ru is an email address that anyone can get. The "jobs" were often "letters" to their US employees praising their work and telling them about the thousands of dollars in commissions they were racking up (the bait).

After about a week and a half (a few days before they would have had to pay the victim) they lowered the hook. They offered him one of those jobs receiving payments from their US customers, hoping that his greed would have been piqued by the huge sums mentioned in the editing "jobs". The
victim politely told them that he was not interested (as he was beginning to suspect that this was just a money laundering scheme) and he has not heard from them since.
A report from another victim published at http://wordsmithforhire.blogspot.com/2011/08/rambler-internet-holdings-scam.html hints at an overpayment scam, so this is a case that combines impersonation of a legitimate company and advance payment.

March 2, 2012: Nigerian scam

A member reported receiving the following message from a ProZ.com profile (removed immediately after receiving the report):

"Hello Dear,
How are you today? I hope by the special grace of God you are doing wonderfully well! I will like to apologize for contacting you
in this manner over a transaction of this magnitude since we all know that the internet is not a safe means of communication but
it was due to a matter of necessity, i had to do a thorough search on the internet and finally came across your email.
I will rather start by introducing myself, I am Mrs. Olga Patarkatsishvili, the wife of late multimillionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili,
he was found dead at about 10.45 pm, Tuesday February 12, 2008 at our Surrey mansion in United Kingdom, at the age of 52, a month after
running unsuccessfully for the Georgian presidency.My husband was one of the "oligarchs" who made a fortune from the privatization of
state-owned industries during the Yeltsin era and eventually found a haven in Britain, where he was recently linked to a possible bid for
West Ham football club. My marriage to Badri came as a surprise.
http://www.geotimes.ge/index.php?m=home&newsid=11794
I hope after reading through the above websites, you will see that me and my little son is in a very tough and difficult situation, as we
are currently battling with my husband's wife, business partners, Georgian authorities, cousin and his solicitors over his wealth because
he did not leave any will behind, this has made life so frustrating for me and my little son David.
Everything he left for us secretly which includes, banks accounts (both foreign accounts) and properties were confiscated except for a
profiling cash amount of Ten million eight hundred thousand United States dollars that he deposited as diplomatic baggage with a European
firm shortly before he died.
I have all documents relating to these deposit and every other information to proof my legitimacy, this I will definitely sent to you only
once you prove to me that you are genuine, honest, transparent and dedicated to help us. We want you to stand as a beneficiary to retrieve
the above quoted sum as my representative.
Please Do email with these mrs.olga00@gmx.es for more details many thanks.
Thanks for your understanding.
Remain blessed,
Mrs. Olga Patarkatsishvili"

This is a classic "Nigerian scam" and, according to law enforcement agencies, lots of educated people fall for this kind of trap every year. IP
address 41.218.247.151 tells us that the scam was sent from Accra, Ghana.

March 1, 2012: Wallet lost abroad scam

A ProZ.com member reported receiving the following message, allegedly from a colleague, sent from that colleague's email address:

"Hope you get this on time,sorry I didn't inform you about my trip in Spain for a Program, I'm presently in Spain and am having some
difficulties here because i misplaced my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money and other valuable things were kept. presently i have
limited access to internet,I will like you to assist me with a loan of 2,950 Euro to sort-out my hotel bills and to get myself back home.
i have spoken to the embassy here but they are not responding to the matter effectively,I will appreciate whatever you can afford to assist
me with,I'll Refund the money back to you as soon as i return,let me know if you can be of any help.I don't have a phone where i can be reached.
Please let me know immediately.
Best Regards"

This is a classic ""Wallet lost abroad" scam, where the scammers first capture somebody's email account and then use it to scam others (probably
taken from the email contacts list). IP address was not reported in this case but it is likely to be located outside Spain.

February 2012

February 29, 2012: Advance payment scam / overpayment scam

Several ProZ.com members reported via Support the following scam submitter from two profiles that were deleted as soon as the first reports were eceived:

hello
I am pastor rick zebb from leeds, UK.I will need the service of an English to french Interpreter while i will becoming to grace a wedding
ceremony in france(paris) as the SpecialGuest Speaker of the occasion on the Friday 23th and Saturday24 of march 2012.The duration will be
from 2pm-4pm on Friday and 10am-12pm on Saturday. If available for these days and hours, do not hesitate to get back to me with the fee involved
so i work towards booking the space.
Very Best Regards
rick zebb
447011149073
rick_zebb@yahoo.com

This is the classic "bishop" version of the advance payment scam. Please note the poor level of English for pastor residing in Leeds.

The IP address was 41.184.17.29 and it traces the sender to Lagos (Nigeria) instead of Leeds (UK). This very simple risk management verification is enough to protect you in this case.

Kamran Nadeem, the Operational Manager at www.industranslation.com has contacted ProZ.com to report that scammers are misusing his name and profile to cheat translators. To do so scammers have created an email address industranslation001@gmail.com and use it to contact translators, impersonating Kamran and sending them to Indus Translation Services' blueboard http://www.proz.com/blueboard/7728

Translators are offered jobs at good rates and, after delivery, they are not paid and their emails are no longer answered. Apparently at least six translators have been cheated this way.

The IP information in the mails received from the scammers locate them in China and further investigations suggest that they could be linked to http://www.proz.com/blueboard/11110

This is a clasic example of scammers who steal translations by impersonating a legitimate ourtsourcer. As usual, the main line of defense for translators is a solid risk management procedure, and in particular to get a positive identification of the outsourcer.

Two details should warn translators in this case:

Emails allegedly sent by a corporate outsourcer from a free email account (Gmail in this case) should always ring alarms.

The operation of this scammer from industranslation001@gmail.com was reported again on April 4, 2012.

February 27, 2012: Pay-to-work scam

Earlier this month a ProZ.com member reported at http://www.proz.com/topic/217853 that an alleged translation agency based in Australia had
offered her attractive work with the condition that they "accepted to cooperate only with WTACA verified members.”

Then they added “WTACA is an international Organization focusing on translation certifications, for more details you can visit their web site www.wtaca.eu.tc” and they requested scanned copy of the translator’s WTACA membership as requirement for incorporation into the agency’s database.

Admission onto WTACA costed €100 so this has all the look and feel of a classic “pay to work” scam, where the victim is asked to pay first as condition for getting access to an attractive job offer.

Further investigation showed that several of the “agency” contact addresses belonged to real translators who were unaware of this misuse of their data. Later the web pages corresponding to both "agency" and "association" became inactive.

Now another ProZ.com member reported at http://www.proz.com/topic/219194 that an allegued Australian agency contacted her indicating that "To ensure high quality translation, we only accept STO (Successful Translators Organization) certified Member. we invite you to visit their website www.sto.eu5.org”
The “agency” presents a PO box as contact address, while the association shows no contact information at all. Admission fee into the STO association is casually €100. At this point the risk management evaluation lights a big red alarm indication.

February 26, 2012: Dating scam

The following email was reported by a ProZ.com member through support:

Hello My Dearest one
Hello My Dearest onernMy name is Sandra Williams i saw your Email today, when i was browsing i then made up my mind to contact you
as my friend so i will also like you to reply back to me, i have some thing to discuss with you, i will also send you my picture,s
and for us to know each other very well, I believe that distance can never be a barrier but let's love connect us because love is a
bridge that connected far distance to be close to each other it will be my pleasure to hear from you soonestrnFrom Sandra,please
reply me with this email, sandra5_williams@yahoo.com

This is a classic example of dating scam, where the scammer attempts to establish a relationship with the victim to ask for the transfer of money
once this was achieved.

The profile used for sending this message was deleted and the corresponding email address was blocked.

February 25, 2012: Advance payment scam / overpayment scam

A ProZ.com user wrote in a support request: "I received a false request from a scammer and fell for it (see copy of the scam email below). Please notify all your members about this scam as many other translators might fall for it.

Greetings!
I'm Alan Cox from Atlanta,Georgia and i'll be leaving here in Atlanta for the United Kingdom on a business trip
tomorrow.However,i will need your service to translate some documents for me.I need to make a presentation to some groups of
german speaking people in Munich,Germany on 5th of March,2012.I will need you to help me translate the papers from English to
German,so each of my audience can have a copy in german language and they can follow through.I will also need that the work be
delivered by March 2,2012.Please,let me know your rate for a total of about 4626 words presentation and your methods of payment.I
look forward to hearing back from you soon.
Best Regards,
Alan
alan.cox.914@gmail.com

This is a classic text found in advance payment scams, including the poor writting and the fact that the translation will be used to be given to
the assistants to a presentation.

February 24, 2012: Secret Shopper scam / Western Union scam

The "Secret Shopper" scam has been going strong for the past few months and continues to affect translators. Please help spread the word in the interest of protecting other language professionals who may fall victim.

A ProZ.com user reported today via the Support service: "I was contacted by a Tom Baker, from a company called Secret Shopper, claiming to be a Proz.com member, ... with a job involving the evaluation of Western Union Services in France. The transactions I carried out were by means of travellers cheques which my bank now informs me are fakes, and of course it is impossible to contact this company. I have been defrauded of 4000 €."

I am one of those translators who fell for the scam as provided below. The Job came through the usual notification and I submitted my bid, for which the client responded as below:

Hello. I accept the price and I am a private person. right now am in uk for vacation. Perhaps I can send you a cheque in the range of payment? That should cover payment for the translation translate the document in word and dont translate the pictures. I will need your data for the payment.Full Name:Address:Phone numbers:Thanks.Floraflora mcmannaman floramcmannaman@yahoo.com

Subject:

Comment:

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I too have been contacted by the so-called White Briggs (briggs_white@yahoo.com) using exactly the same responses as the ones quoted above.

These are the e-mails they have sent me:

"You have been sent a message via ProZ.com.Author: Briggs[NOTE: The author is not a registered ProZ.com user or was not logged in when sending this message.] Author's IP address: 184.105.146.8 Message type: Job-related-----------

Hello, I write to inquire for the service of an English to Spanish Interpreter for an upcoming event in Spain.Kindly reply if interested.

Warm Regards,White Briggs"

Next e-mail:

"Thank you very much for your reply.I am interested in booking you for 3 to 4 days between 11th to 15th of June.

Purpose: To work as a liaison Interpreter between myself and 3 Spanish speaking independent business men.

Venue: Barcelona, Spain

Time : 9am to 4pm daily

Subject: To develop marketing Concept and Strategies on how to introduce a new product in Spain.

Kindly note that the website is under construction and i shall supply you any other information as we unfold issues.

I am a very busy person and i will be happy to get what the fee for your service will be so i can plan along with it because I have many assignments on my neck between now and the next 3 weeks. Will await your response.

Warm Regards,White Briggs"

And the last one:

"Or are you saying I make a deposit now or make payment after the exercise?"

I did not go any further because I found this thread warning about the scam.

I hope nobody else falls for it.

Subject:

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I was contacted by GONZALO BENJUMEDA the 11th of April. He asked me for a translation from Arabic to Spanish. I delivered the translation and he sent me a copy of a false transfer to my account, that of course it never arrived. I lost track of him as soon as I sent him the translation. I hope that more translators read these postings so they are aware.

Best regards,

Estefanía

Subject:

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I too have been contacted by the so-called White Briggs (briggs_white@yahoo.com) using exactly the same responses as the ones quoted above.

These are the e-mails they have sent me:

"You have been sent a message via ProZ.com.Author: Briggs[NOTE: The author is not a registered ProZ.com user or was not logged in when sending this message.] Author's IP address: 184.105.146.8 Message type: Job-related-----------

Hello, I write to inquire for the service of an English to Spanish Interpreter for an upcoming event in Spain.Kindly reply if interested.

Warm Regards,White Briggs"

Next e-mail:

"Thank you very much for your reply.I am interested in booking you for 3 to 4 days between 11th to 15th of June.

Purpose: To work as a liaison Interpreter between myself and 3 Spanish speaking independent business men.

Venue: Barcelona, Spain

Time : 9am to 4pm daily

Subject: To develop marketing Concept and Strategies on how to introduce a new product in Spain.

Kindly note that the website is under construction and i shall supply you any other information as we unfold issues.

I am a very busy person and i will be happy to get what the fee for your service will be so i can plan along with it because I have many assignments on my neck between now and the next 3 weeks. Will await your response.

Warm Regards,White Briggs"

And the last one:

"Or are you saying I make a deposit now or make payment after the exercise?"

I did not go any further because I found this thread warning about the scam.

I hope nobody else falls for it.

[Edited at 2012-05-01 17:05 GMT]

[Edited at 2012-05-01 17:06 GMT]

Subject:

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I too was contacted by him. The emails are exactly the same as the ones above, thank God I saw them and didn't fell in. In this case, he requested an interpreter for four days in Barcelona. He offer to pay everything (and more for extra unexpected expenses) in advance. It all sounded strange from the very beginning. It seems the "African prince" scam has changed its looks a little bit but it is the same thing again.I also hope nobody falls in.Thanks a million,

Cristina

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I found something sounded strange in this negociation: the "client" wanted to pay 1/3 in advance by check. The volume of work was quite big (12Kwords) he even sent me a word file when I asked for details about the text to be translated. After exchanging few mails, I was amazed by the low writing skills of the "autor" and made a search. Hopefully I found this page.

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I received exactly the same e-mails as reported below, relating to an interpreting job in Barcelona.Despite feeling that it was all rather strange, I went along with it, giving him the benefit of the doubt as I had no intention of paying out any money or giving any bank details. I received a cheque which I paid into my account, thinking that if the cheque went through ok, then everything must be fine and that I had nothing to lose. Only some two weeks later did I see that the cheque had "bounced" and my bank had charged me 90 Euros as a fee for this. This is when I saw these messages on the forum as well.I have paid out no money to this guy or whoever he is, and he still has no other details about me. I am waiting to receive the cheque back from the bank, and to know more about the origin of the cheque and what other consequences there may be. I intend to fight the bank charges, but that is another issue. I'm still trying to comprehend exactly what kind of scam this is, as so far "he" cannot have received any benefit from this. I feel that there must be something even nastier around the corner, but I have no idea what!If any one else has anything else to share about this guy, with a similar experience, it would be greatly appreciated.Also, I don't know exactly how I should proceed with this matter - should I report it to the police?

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I've been also contacted by "White Briggs". He said he was in Lisbon and needed an interpreter, the check arrived and with much more than what I asked, as we say in Portugal "too much charity makes the saint fall", so I found it very strange and thankfully I found this posts in the forum. I'm not depositing the check, but I only gave him my address and nothing more personal. I don't understand what does the guy wins with this.

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The exact same thing has happened to me!I was suspicious since the beginning of his e-mails and fortunately I found these warnings on the internet just has I received his payment by check!

I have reported it to the police even though it will probably go nowhere! But, at least I feel like I am not sitting at home, doing nothing, while these situations keep on happening!

Coincidentally I received another one of his e-mails just this morning, asking me to keep 600€ of the check's payment (which was 3500 pounds) for the inconvenience, and return the rest to him. I haven't return his e-mails for about two weeks now, and he just keeps trying his luck!

I hope nobody else falls for this scam!

Thank you for the warning!

Alexandra (Portugal)

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I was contacted by Gonzalo Benjumeda as well a few months ago, he asked me a spanish to french translation. I delivered the translation and didn't receive anything from him. It is a big scam, he even sent me a false transaction paper and then absolutely nothing. Please be careful!

This morning I have been contacted by Stiven Wilson, the "private investor". Thanks to this page I won't answer.

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I was recently emailed (yahoo address) by GINGER WOMACK with the following message:

"We are looking for a translator that can translate from English to any foreign language. I have a book project at hand that demands all foreign language because we have newborn every minute all over the world. This is concerning the training of our children for a better tomorrow. The book is title **TEACH YOUR CHILD THE RIGHT WAY** This book has been written in English to help parent know their obligation to teenagers. The book contain 30 Pages, Words count is 10,000 Thousand. There will be no editing as regards translating it..."

She then asked for me for my (U.S.) address ("no PO Box") and the amount I would complete the project for.

I had an inkling it was a scam; to be sure, I sent her an amount and a made-up address. She responded a few days later saying her book editor mailed me the check, but mailed it for a larger amount than my bid. She said I should cash the certified check when I get it and send the difference via Western Union.

This was clearly a refund scam. Please be careful.

Naya

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I also received an e-mail from Mrs. Flora mcmannaman with a document "article_business_sustainability_framework" with about 15k words. I informed her of the price and told her that I would need some advance payment to start the job. She promptly agreed to my price and said a check of the total would be sent to me. I answered that I would start the job as soon as the payment was credited to my account. Then, I forgot about it, because I wouldn't start working without some guarantee, but gave her my address. Today I received a check with a badly written note asking for excuse for the late payment. The check is from a Spanish Bank and the amount is 3200Euros, 5 times the price of my expected job. I thought someone had mixed envelopes and sent the wrong check to the wrong person and I went to my bank with it, to show it to my bank adviser and ask what to do. I was informed that the check would take 45 days to be cleared and I would have to pay expenses for submitting it and then more expenses if it bounced. The note that arrived with the check said, among other things like asking how the weather was: (sic) "The payment was mail out to you on behalf of our client based on instructions from my boss. Please notify me once you receive the payment and kindly take it to your bank for a deposit and it will take two working(2)days for the funds to be credited into your account. It is for your bank to get the cash into your bank account."I sent Mrs. Flora an email, playing the naive and telling her that I had received a check that I assumed was from her, although her name wasn't included, and asking what was the meaning of this.I got this answer:"Dear TeresaThanks for your update,yes the check you receive is from my client Mr Richard King.Is Owing me Some Money for our business transaction and i told him to send the check to you for the payment of the translation job,So i want you to go and deposit the check into your bank and account and it will take just 3days to clear and deduct your money which is 637,44€ and i will let you know how to get the balance across to me.Hope you understand me.ThanksFlora"

I started thinking of money laundry, which is also possible, and then I started searching the Internet and I found this thread. Alas! Well, the check looks so perfect that, as I have to go to Spain next week for a personal matter, I think I'll drop by at a police station and leave it there!!!Sorry Mrs. Flora for being such a bad sport.